On Feb. 17, President Denise Battles sent an email update regarding changes in COVID-19 safety regulations and policies. On Feb. 22, the campus community received another email informing the student body that the new threshold for a two-week pause is now 5 percent, or approximately 222 cases, of the campus population. The changes are in ordinance to The New York State Health Department guidelines.
Battles’ Feb. 17 email clarified that the COVID-19 dashboard indicates the “daily/current active cases count,” not the 14-day case count. In order to trigger a two-week pause, Geneseo must reach a certain threshold of active positive cases within a 14-day period. It also specified that if the college were to enter a two-week pause on operations, students would remain on campus throughout the pause rather than returning home.
Battles also announced a new guideline from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) that all students, faculty and staff should wear two masks instead of one. Battles recommended that individuals on campus wear one surgical mask, which are freely distributed on campus, and one cloth mask in order to ensure maximum protection.
The first email concluded by issuing new travel updates for students on campus, stating that any student who travels away from Geneseo overnight or for more than 12 hours is required to inform the Dean of Students office, quarantine for seven days off-campus, provide a negative COVID-19 test within three days of returning and test at the first available pool test upon returning to campus.
Battle’s Feb. 22 email explained the conditions that would need to occur for the campus to enter a two-week pause on operations. These changes are a result of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Feb. 19 announcement. Now, a pause will only be triggered if “5% of the total on-campus population test positive using a 14-day rolling average.”
Battles explains that 5 percent of the on-campus population is anticipated to be approximately 222 cases, although confirmation is still pending. According to Battles, “this is favorable news for our community; however, we must not let down our guard.”