TO: Moscow-Based Faculty, Staff and Students
FROM: Scott Green, President
DATE: Sept. 21, 2020
SUBJECT: COVID-19 Efforts Continuing to Show Compliance by Most
As we enter the fifth week of classes, it is important that we recognize and appreciate how people doing the right thing can make a significant difference to the health of our community. Because our personal decisions do impact others, each of us doing our part will help keep our campus safer and allow us to continue our in-person classes until Thanksgiving break. Last week we tested many who traveled over Labor Day weekend and found 4.71% tested positive, an increase over previous weeks.
For those who traveled, some have inadvertently and unknowingly brought the virus back to Moscow. Our testing results for last week found 25 primarily asymptomatic, positive cases in students and employees residing both on and off campus. While we asked everyone to stay in Moscow, not everyone did. We are grateful to those who followed our request to be tested after traveling and want to encourage everyone to continue to make good decisions. For those who traveled and have not yet tested, we strongly recommend that you do before returning to classes. There is no defense for those who travel out of our community, then return and, as a result of not being tested, infect others.
Because there is a minimum six-day incubation period for this virus, if you traveled the weekend after Labor Day (Sept. 12-13), you should test this week. Choosing avoidance over doing what is right is not what Vandals do. We expect more from each other. Sign up for free testing available at the Student Recreation Center (SRC), Wednesday and Thursday, Sept. 23-24. Email covid19questions@uidaho.edu with any questions.
Surveillance testing continues this week with a focus on Athletics, ROTC, some sororities, and students or employees who recently traveled. As part of the overall surveillance testing, we are developing a protocol to randomly identify students and employees each week to find and isolate asymptomatic cases. When it’s time for you to participate, you will receive an email from covid19questions@uidaho.edu with instructions.
Since we started our official COVID-19 testing on Aug. 6, we have completed approximately 9,000 tests, and the overall percent of positives is 1.32%. We have eight students currently residing in our isolation facility. A big thank you for the efforts made by our students, staff and faculty to keep us on track. We have nine more weeks until Thanksgiving break, and we can’t let our guard down for a moment. It is not lost on us that October was the worst month for the Spanish Flu pandemic in the early part of the last century. As we move back indoors, we need to be even more vigilant about adhering to the Healthy Vandal Pledge. Please continue wearing your face covering, social distance, wash your hands, and, if asked, participate in ongoing surveillance testing. If you show symptoms, please call the Vandal Health Clinic. If you don’t need to leave Moscow, I strongly encourage you to stay here until Thanksgiving break. Also, be mindful that Pullman and WSU are still responding to a severe COVID-19 outbreak. Please limit your time in Whitman County.
We truly are all in this together, so please continue to do your part. For more information on the U of I COVID-19 response, visit our website or email any questions to covid19questions@uidaho.edu.
Keep Calm and Vandal On.
Scott Green
President
president@uidaho.edu
uidaho.edu/president
