COVID-19 Information

From Chief of Staff Adelia Thompson emailed to faculty and staff.

Dear colleagues,

Fall break is here! As our students and faculty head into a well-deserved academic pause over the next few days, and as we all move toward the weekend, I have a few updates to share.

First, COVID-related:

• Local numbers, and masks - The good news is that locally and statewide, the case and hospitalization counts continue to drop. It appears that in the weeks ahead we may in fact see the virus prevalence fall off substantially. However, right now the numbers remain well above what we experienced over the summer, and the Virginia Department of Health still considers the transmission level on the Peninsula to be high. So, following CDC’s continued guidance, and doing all we can to protect our campus while local case counts remain concerning, we will stay the course with our mask requirement: everyone, regardless of vaccine status, wears a mask indoors. Right now, we expect to keep the mask policy in place through the end of the fall semester. And a note, in response to some recent questions: If you are traveling with others on university business, please treat your vehicle as “indoors” and wear a mask. If you have any questions regarding “to mask or not to mask,” please don’t hesitate to ask.
• Testing schedules - Faculty and staff who are tested for the virus will continue on their regular schedule this week and next. There will be adjustments to the student schedule and Vice President of Student Affairs Dr. Kevin Hughes will be sending a message to students addressing that in the next couple of days. As always, he will share that message with all of us.
• CampusClear - Now, some really good news! Faculty and staff have, for the most part, been diligent about completing the daily symptom screener – CampusClear. The app helped us get through last year and the start of this semester because it forced us all to pause and be mindful of our symptom status, every day. It worked because you took the requirement seriously and tolerated all those notifications! It also worked because our team of community tracers, the COVID Response Team, jumped into action the moment they received information from any of us about possible virus exposure or symptoms. At this point, though, most of us are well aware of COVID symptoms, and you have been reporting exposures and illnesses directly to your supervisors and our emergency management team.

So – effective Sunday, October 10, we’re dropping CampusClear! Believe me - I can hear the cheers as I write this, and I am right there with you. But please - we absolutely cannot stop being vigilant about our health, so we will continue to send daily emails (not the app notifications on your phone) through the rest of the semester to remind us all to be aware of our health and any symptoms if they show up. And please, we cannot stop caring for each other by staying away from campus when we need to. Do not come to campus if you are sick.

Here is what you need to do if you think you’ve been exposed, or if you are sick:

If you are exposed to someone who has tested positive for COVID:

• If you are fully vaccinated (at least two weeks post second dose or after the first and final Johnson & Johnson shot), and you do not personally have COVID related symptoms, there is no reporting requirement.
• If you are fully vaccinated but have COVID related symptoms, please notify your supervisor/department chair of your symptoms and hr-tracker@cnu.edu with the details of the exposure, your symptoms, and the phone number where you can be reached. Please expect a return email and follow up phone call from a member of the COVID Response Team.
• If you are unvaccinated, you must notify your supervisor/department chair of the exposure and hr-tracker@cnu.edu with the details of the exposure, your symptoms, and the phone number where you can be reached. Please expect a return email and follow up phone call from a member of the COVID Response Team.

If you develop symptoms consistent with COVID:

• Notify your supervisor/department chair immediately and hr-tracker@cnu.edu with the details of your symptoms. Do not come to campus until you have spoken with a member of the COVID Response Team.
• If you believe the symptoms are a normal for you (allergies, for example) or if you have any symptoms or illness that is not consistent with COVID there is no need to report to the hr-tracker email address. Illness or injury not consistent with COVID should be worked out with your supervisor/department chair.

Just as a reminder, COVID related symptoms may consist of one or more of the following:

• Fever or chills
• Cough
• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• Fatigue
• Muscle or body aches
• Headache
• New loss of taste or smell
• Sore throat
• Congestion or runny nose
• Nausea or vomiting

You can find this information on our website.

Now, on to other news:

• In spite of fall break on Monday and Tuesday, next week promises to be busy on campus. We’re holding a Hiring Event (Job Fair) from 1-6pm on Tuesday at the Freeman Center. As President Trible said in his speech in August, we have too many unfilled positions across our campus in large part due to the hiring freeze we had to implement for months when COVID was raging. So, right now, too much work is falling to too few people. Please encourage anyone you know who might be interested in becoming part of our campus employee community to come to the event or reach out to our HR office. Information on that is here:

• If you have questions about these topics or anything else, please reach out to Jim Hanchett, our Chief Communications Officer, and he will try to assist or point you in the right direction. You can reach Jim at jim.hanchett@cnu.edu or 4-7699.

I hope you have a good weekend. As always, thank you for all that you do for this place and for the students whose lives you change every day.