To: The Wellesley Community
From: Andrew Shennan, Provost and Lia Gelin Poorvu ’56 Dean of the College; Sheilah Shaw Horton, Vice President and Dean of Students; and Carolyn Slaboden, Chief Human Resources Officer
Re: Increase in campus COVID cases
Date: April 29, 2022
We are writing to respond to some of the concerns and questions community members have raised about the increase in COVID cases at the College. The sharpest increases have been in student cases. Based on contact tracing, we believe that this is due to large numbers of students attending crowded, unmasked parties the weekend before Marathon Monday. This uptick serves as a strong reminder that while COVID may no longer be considered a pandemic, it remains with us, and we must use all the tools and guidance included below to help guard against it:
Masking. While vaccines and boosters limit the severity of the disease, masking and regular testing are the best defense against catching and spreading COVID. All members of our community should wear masks in academic and administrative buildings. Students must wear masks in residence halls when gathering in groups of more than 10 and should be especially careful to wear masks in dining halls when not eating. It is extremely important that students wear masks when they gather at events and parties on or off campus. High-quality surgical masks are available for free in the testing centers.
Close contacts. Faculty have voiced concerns about students missing class because they are a close contact. Close contacts who are fully vaccinated do not need to quarantine and should not miss classes, though they must be diligent about wearing masks.
Positive testing pools. Students in a positive testing pool may go to class as soon as they receive a negative rapid result (which comes back within minutes of retesting). Students can get retested anytime between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. Individuals in a positive pool who receive a negative rapid result should continue going to class, work, and other activities on campus, but should be diligent about masking everywhere until their individual PCR result comes back the next day.
In-person instruction. To the greatest extent practicable, we encourage all instructors to continue holding classes in person during these final days of the semester. But instructors themselves are in the best position to judge what is in the educational interest of the students in their classes, and we have complete confidence in their judgment. If absentee rates are making it difficult or impossible to complete a course in person, the Office of the Provost will support any decision instructors make to adjust the mode of instruction.
Student isolation protocols. Out of concern for their health and that of their roommates, we will continue to move students who test positive to a local hotel where they will be in a building that is staffed 24/7 and has meals that are prepared on site.
Testing. We will continue our current testing protocols through the end of the semester and commencement. Students should be testing twice a week, and all faculty and staff should be testing once a week. We are reevaluating these protocols for the summer and will share plans in the coming weeks.
We prefer that students, including close contacts, only test in our testing center, and we encourage reliance on regular pooled testing, which generally offers results first thing the next morning. Positive pool results can be confirmed with a rapid test the same morning. Symptomatic students should contact Health Services.
Students who choose to take their own rapid tests should report a positive result in the toolbox. When they do, they will typically be required to follow up with Health Services to get a PCR test. They should call Health Services at 781-283-2810 to make an appointment, not drop in. This allows Health Services to space students out and avoid lines. Students who report a positive rapid test in the toolbox will be blocked from testing in the on-campus testing centers.
Faculty and staff who know they are close contacts should do pooled testing in our testing centers. They can test twice in the week they are notified of being a close contact, even if they do not have two appointments. Note that a positive test result is unlikely until three to five days after exposure. Symptomatic faculty and staff should fill out the symptom checker, which will generate a call from an occupational health and safety nurse who will provide guidance. Faculty and staff who obtain an off-campus positive test result should report it in the toolbox and await a call from a nurse.
We are reviewing the case counts daily, and if they do not begin to decrease sharply in the next week, the College will consider revising guidance on guests and masking in residence halls.
Thank you for your patience as we navigate the last few weeks of the semester.
