To: Wellesley College Faculty and Staff
From: President Paula A. Johnson
Re: Health and Safety Update
Date: November 20, 2020
As we prepare to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday, I want to take a moment to thank all of you for your extraordinary efforts this fall. Nothing about this year has been easy, but thanks to your dedication, grace under pressure, and tireless efforts Wellesley has been able to to transform our academic and student experience while striving to keep our community healthy and safe.
Thanksgiving comes at a challenging time as COVID-19 case numbers in Massachusetts and across the country are rising sharply. Several local colleges have recently moved to fully remote teaching because of recent spikes in cases. At Wellesley, we have seen a recent uptick of cases, primarily among employees.
One new student case resulted in 14 close contacts going into quarantine and 52 secondary contacts observing in-room restrictions until they receive three negative tests. Earlier today I sent a message to on-campus students letting them know that if this kind of exposure happens again, we risk running out of quarantine beds and having to end on-campus learning. We are also seeing an increase in positive cases among our on-campus employees, and it is equally important that our faculty and staff remain vigilant in adhering to our health and safety protocols.
The CDC is now urging all in the United States not to travel for Thanksgiving due to the risks of exposure. With that in mind, I want to share some updated health and safety guidelines and reporting requirements that we are asking you to follow.
What’s new:
- Strengthened travel protocols: Given the increasing rates of COVID-19 across the country, we are strengthening our protocols for returning to campus following travel. This guidance applies to all faculty and staff who are working on campus or who plan to come to campus at all over the next three weeks.
- Any member of the faculty or staff who travels out of state or out of the country over the holiday will be required to quarantine off campus for 14 days upon return, regardless of where they travel. These guidelines are stricter than the current Massachusetts guidelines and reflect our continued efforts to secure the Wellesley “bubble” to protect the health and safety of our community.
- All faculty and staff should fill out the travel tracker form if they are planning to travel out of the state or out of the country, and they must observe the 14-day quarantine rule before returning to campus. We have added this form to the Toolbox in Workday to make it easier to find.
- An important reminder regarding use of the Daily Health Check symptom tracker:
- Faculty and staff who are in the College’s asymptomatic testing program or are approved to be on campus full time or part time this term should fill out the Daily Health Check symptom tracker every day they experience symptoms or are scheduled to come to campus.
- Faculty and staff who need permission from their manager to come to campus must fill out the Daily Health Check symptom tracker every time they come to campus.
- Remember that if you report symptoms, the app will send a confidential notification that an employee is “not cleared to work” to a nurse with the Operational and Environmental Health Network (OEHN). These nurses are contracted by Wellesley and will reach out to you to discuss whether you should see your primary care physician or seek symptomatic testing. All data from the symptom tracker is deleted after 24 hours.
I also want to share advice from public health experts for staying healthy over the holiday by showing your love and gratitude for family and friends virtually this year.
Please know that this Thanksgiving, I will be giving thanks for everything we have been able to accomplish this year, for our students, and for our community. I wish you all a happy and healthy holiday. Be well, stay safe.
