02/12/2021
Today we surpassed 100 cases on the SUNY COVID-19 Tracker, meeting a threshold that last semester required SUNY Cortland to enter a mandatory study-in-place period.
I am relieved to share that today’s benchmark will not result in a similar forced pause. In-person classes will remain in session, and campus facilities such as the Student Life Center will remain open by following our strict health and safety guidelines.
We are concerned with the spread among our on-campus and off-campus student population. We are working closely with SUNY and the state to track cases, monitor our campus’s situation, and mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Please keep in mind:
- The current evaluation period measures the start of our new testing policy, which requires that every student, faculty and staff member who comes to campus for any reason be tested once every week. Over the last 14 days we have conducted more than 6,500 tests, more than all but a few of the 64 campuses in the SUNY system.
- Although SUNY Cortland recorded more than 100 positive COVID-19 tests within the last two-week period, our infection rate is currently 1.2%, which is lower than the infection rates of both the Central New York region and New York state as a whole.
- SUNY Cortland has strengthened mitigation measures and educational efforts adopted last fall. Stringent behavioral guidelines remain in place, campus activities remain almost completely virtual, student leaders have been engaged, and quarantine and isolation procedures have been improved.
- Yesterday, the New York State Department of Health revised its guidelines for the Spring 2021 semester to exclude positive test results from student pre-arrival testing. For SUNY Cortland, this lowers the number of cases counted toward the 100-case threshold by 20.
- The state-set two-week period for the current threshold ends at midnight tonight, after which the tally of cases counted toward the 100-case trigger resets to zero.
Overall, members of the SUNY Cortland community have done an admirable job in following the rules and staying safe. But our numbers are still too high, especially among students living off campus. COVID-19 is a resilient enemy and each of us — student, faculty or staff member — must remain vigilant and improve our compliance with basic safety practices for the next several months. These include limiting gatherings, wearing face coverings and participating in our mandatory weekly surveillance testing.
The future of our spring semester depends on it.
All the best,
Erik J. Bitterbaum
President