Update on Initial Testing Results

Aug 20, 2020

To: Wellesley College Community
From: President Paula A. Johnson
Re: Update on Initial Testing Results
Date: August 20, 2020

As we have begun welcoming students, faculty, and staff back to campus for the fall semester, we are writing to share that one individual in our community has tested positive for COVID-19. This individual was quickly isolated, and appropriate follow-up, including contact tracing, is underway.

This is why we have developed and implemented our testing protocols and health procedures—to identify any positive cases early and move quickly to address them to stop the spread to others in our community. As a reminder, a close contact is someone who has had an exposure of closer than 6 feet for a minimum of 15 minutes during the 48 hours prior to the positive test or onset of symptoms. For privacy purposes, we are not releasing further details about the individual. If you have not been called by a contact tracer, you are not a close contact.

I am pleased to report that our testing program has yielded almost 400 negative tests. Our first group of students from high-incidence areas continues to quarantine at the hotel. This situation has shown me that our systems are working—and it has also highlighted the need for all members of our on-campus community to consistently and continuously do their part.

For those of you who are living on campus or come to campus to work and teach, I want to take this opportunity to reiterate the importance of completing the screening process using the Daily Health Checker App each and every day before you leave your home or residence hall room. The steps you should take are outlined below.

  1. Complete the Daily Health Check App and report any new symptoms you might be having.

  2. If you have, or report, any symptoms listed in the app, stay in your room or home and quarantine. We cannot emphasize this enough. Please do not go to asymptomatic testing if you are experiencing symptoms.

    1. Students: Contact Health Services. Have your phone available at all times as Health Services will receive notification of your symptoms via the app and will contact you as well. It is important that you answer their call, so you may need to answer blocked or unknown numbers during this time.
    2. Faculty and staff: Stay home. Take precautions in your home (wear a mask, disinfect high-touch surfaces) to protect family members. Contact your primary care provider to determine next steps for testing, and expect to hear from a nurse from Wellesley’s occupational health and safety contractor or a designated College employee to support you in determining next steps. If you have symptoms on a day you are not regularly scheduled to work, or you have been exposed to or tested positive for COVID-19 outside of the workplace, please notify the College through this form.

  3. The College’s trained contact tracers will be calling from 781.474.0383. Please put this number into your contacts in your phone. It is imperative that you answer your phone if they call you to determine whether you have been exposed.

  4. Please remember to practice the 3Ws—wear a mask, watch your distance and remain 6 feet apart at all times, wash and sanitize your hands—wherever you may be. These practices make a big difference in maintaining the health of our campus community and beyond and in helping to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Additionally, if you haven’t already, please report if you have had a positive test in the past 90 days. We need all members of our community who have previously had a positive test to complete this form to determine the right testing protocol for you. Check the Fall 2020 Documentation Dashboard and update any incomplete information in Workday before reporting for scheduled testing. If your information in Workday is not complete, you will not be able to be tested at your scheduled time. We will also be updating our signage and protocols at our testing sites to remind you of these guidelines.

As more students return to campus in the coming days and classes get underway, we will be reporting regularly on the status of our testing program through a dashboard that will be posted on the College’s coronavirus website by early next week.

I have been impressed by the levels of compliance with our testing and health protocols thus far. I want to thank the students, faculty, and staff for all that you have been doing to keep Wellesley healthy, and I encourage you to continue to be vigilant. We are truly in this together.