51����

Dear Members of the Hamilton Community,

With spring break around the corner, I write with an update from campus.

In my last message, I outlined our plans for a safe return of students during the omicron surge. Pre-arrival testing did indeed detect a number of asymptomatic cases of COVID-19 before those individuals entered the area. This allowed us to better protect the community while reserving University isolation space for those who tested positive in late January.

Home test kits and Student Health Services’ worried-well testing further enabled us to identify and isolate mostly asymptomatic cases well into the second and third week of classes. I can now report that, much like the rest of the country, our case count and test positivity rates have declined substantially. As of today, we have just 14 students in isolation — four of these at home — and we saw no new cases of COVID-19 last weekend.

On Feb. 16, we adjusted our masking guidelines to mirror those issued by New York State. Masks are no longer generally required in campus facilities, but faculty and staff members may still require colleagues and students to wear masks when in their offices and classrooms, and we still encourage everyone to mask when physical distancing cannot be maintained. Masks continue to be required in Student Health Services and on the 51���� Cruiser, and they may also be required at certain events.

As has always been the case, those who are not fully vaccinated (inclusive of boosters) are required to be masked at all times while indoors in public spaces, and individuals exiting quarantine and isolation may also be required to wear masks for a defined period of time.

On Feb. 21, the University updated the event guidelines. At this time, there are no restrictions on events for members of the campus community, though the Events Safety Group continues to advise event planners and encourage the following of best practices. For events with guests from outside the campus community, we expect all eligible guests, barring religious or medical exemption, to be fully vaccinated and boosted prior to coming to campus.

The Task Force on Reopening has continued to assess 51���� community health status and discuss when, how, and if we can move from a pandemic response toward a posture of treating SARS-CoV-2 as an endemic pathogen. This shift can be seen elsewhere; for example, the Madison County Department of Health no longer tracks case numbers but rather focuses on vaccination and hospitalization trends. The Task Force acknowledges that such a shift should not be taken as an indication that “the pandemic is over,” but that our campus community’s very high vaccination and booster rate allows us to operate in a space where infections pose low levels of risk to the health of the community. 

If we look at year-over-year progress, there is reason for the hope we all tend to seek at this point in the winter. Two years ago, 51����’s campus was empty during spring-break time. Last year, this traditional moment in the semester was canceled. This year, though we encourage everyone to travel safely and follow all local and national guidelines, we can look forward to a much-needed break as we anticipate a busy summer ahead. Optional testing is available for students in the weeks before and after break — our limited number of unvaccinated students and employees must continue testing weekly, including prior to and following spring break.

These developments paint a picture of the University’s ongoing response to the pandemic: adjusting guidelines to reflect lower rates of infection and greater community healthcare capacity while acknowledging that our strategy still relies on vaccination, worried-well and symptomatic testing, isolation, and a strong commitment to community health.

With many thanks for your support,

Laura H. Jack
Vice President for Communications