Public Statements

Adjustments to COVID Fall Planning

August 2, 2021

Tags Public Statements

Dear Students, Faculty, Staff, and Parents,

I hope everyone has had an opportunity this summer to rest and recharge. While we are not out of the COVID-19 woods, the vaccines have given us a path forward free of many, though not yet all, of the challenges and constraints of the recent past.

In just a few weeks, our new first-year students and their parents will encounter the usual enthusiastic greetings as they drive up College Hill to start their Hamilton journey, but they will arrive as the country once again experiences a surge in COVID-19 cases. Hamilton’s COVID-19 Task Force has been reviewing the data and watching the trends closely and has decided to make several adjustments to our fall plans.

Arrival Testing. The rapid spread of the Delta variant and recent data indicating that even fully vaccinated individuals may contract and transmit the virus make it likely we will see some COVID-19 cases on campus this fall. Fortunately, the risk to fully vaccinated members of our community is low, and almost everyone on campus will be fully vaccinated by the start of classes. Breakthrough infections for vaccinated individuals remain rare and usually result in cases that are asymptomatic or mild. In other words, the vaccines remain remarkably effective. As an added precaution, however, we now plan to test all students on arrival and again five to seven days later. The small number of students and employees who have received or will receive medical or religious exemptions to our vaccine mandate will test twice a week, at least for the first few weeks of the semester. The results of our arrival testing will help us determine whether and how often we need to continue to test. The Testing Center will send more detailed information on the testing requirements soon.

Isolation and Quarantine. Students who test positive will need to isolate for 10 days. Close contacts who are fully vaccinated will not need to quarantine, but any unvaccinated close contacts will need to quarantine for 10 days. We will work with any students who might need to isolate or quarantine to assist them with making up any missed coursework. Employees who test positive will need to isolate at home for 10 days.

Masks. An increasing number of cities and counties have reinstated mask mandates in accordance with recent CDC guidance recommending that everyone wear masks indoors in areas of “substantial or high transmission.” Oneida County is currently experiencing a “moderate” level of transmission, so we do not see a need now for a campuswide mask mandate, particularly in light of the near-universal vaccination of our campus community. Case numbers in New York State and in Oneida County are increasing, however, so state and county guidance on masks could change at any time. Since we don’t know the vaccination status of parents and other visitors, we will require that everyone wear masks during orientation sessions held indoors and while moving students into their residence halls.

Change seems to be the one constant in this pandemic. We have therefore made contingency plans should we at some point need to resume widespread testing or other precautions, but given our vaccine mandate and the extraordinary effectiveness of the vaccines, we remain optimistic about our ability this year to enjoy the full range of activities that make Hamilton such a wonderful place.

David