As the number of active cases declined and the availability of isolation housing increased, The COVID-19 Response Team announced updates to the health and safety measures already in place.
There are currently 138 total active cases among undergraduate students, with 111 of them from students in on-campus housing and 27 from students living off campus. There are zero cases among graduate students and one case among faculty and staff.
The email said starting Sept. 13, faculty will revert back to in-person academic classes unless they test positive or more than 30 percent of students in the class are in isolation.
Faculty and instructors have been given a dashboard resource to keep track of their course status and are instructed to update their students weekly.
As for dining services, take-out-only dining will start Sept. 11, through at least till Sept. 17 out of concern for masks coming off to eat. More updates will be provided next week.
The email said outdoor dining spaces will also be expanded to include a tent under the Clayton University Center. Students are also able to dine in the tents near STEPS when not reserved for events.
Taylor Gym will reopen at a reduced capacity and by appointment only next week, with a tentative full reopening date of Sept. 15. The gym facilities at the Singleton, Hitch & Maida Houses will remain closed but will be re-evaluated next week.
The email said the response team is considering expanding testing to add random surveillance testing in populations of students in which the positivity rate is high.
Indoor gatherings, with the exception of those supervised by faculty or staff, are still limited to no more than 25 people, and both unvaccinated and vaccinated individuals are still required to wear masks in all indoor settings.
Cases among vaccinated students continue to result in mild symptoms and the team said they encourage the Lehigh community to be mindful of following the protocols in place at this time.
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1 Comment
All times I see on and off campus numbers for student counts, I wish for the total number bases. I believe it’s only fair when there is a differential to indicate percents for each category. Otherwise, why breakdown the on and off numbers?