Let’s coast gently into the weekend
As we move into the weekend in our new Orange status, we have a video from Dr. Chris Ohl, our amazing infectious disease specialist, who has been working with us through the pandemic. He lays things out in very understandable terms and has some solid, common sense suggestions for how to approach the next stretch here at Wake. Students also got their edition of Your Corona Chronicle yesterday, which is worth a read. Resident students also got an email with some important information about the residential experience.
For those of you whose Deacs live off campus, it’s easy to feel isolated from the on-campus community. A great reminder that the resources we have are available to off campus students during these tough times. Also worth noting that we have asked, during this Orange status, to minimize the flow of on- and off-campus movement by graduate, professional and undergraduate students. Off-campus students should only come to campus to attend in-person classes or for other essential activities. Essential activities are things like to get grab and go dining, for an appointment with the Student Health Service, or for classes; we’d want students to avoid coming onto campus just for recreation or social activities, as Dr. Ohl said.
With an increase in the number of tests performed Weds-Friday of this week, those test results should be coming back today through Monday(ish). The Student Health Service has a great website on quarantine and isolation, and there is an equally comprehensive website from Residence Life and Housing about quarantining and some of the supports offered. Those are great resources to start with if you have questions.
As a reminder, our Call Center is opening on Saturday and Sunday from 10 am-2 pm Eastern to assist you if you need it. Our number is 336-758-7500. Again, we ask families to contact the Call Center and not administrative offices; those offices need to be free to work directly with your students right now. If you have a question we can’t answer in the Call Center, we will find out the answer and follow up with you.
Need to make a correction to yesterday’s blog: the number at the far right of the dashboard is the total known, confirmed, active cases, not cases in the last 14 days. My bad. And as you look at the dashboard, remember that Dr. Ohl tells us that we should expect to see three to five days of more increases in positive cases before we see our numbers settle or decline.
In non-COVID news, we have an update on the OPCD sessions for families of each class year; you can see past recordings here, or see the date for the P’24 session (registration coming soon).
Final thoughts:
I know this rise in cases can feel unnerving. Please call your Deacs – as you always do on Friday – and ask them to be sure to make it a safe, low-key weekend. With everyone following guidelines and adjusting their behavior so we are making smart choices – wearing masks, keeping 6′ of distance, respecting gathering limits both for eating and socializing, avoiding bars and restaurants, limiting non-essential outings – we can move forward.
–by Betsy Chapman, Ph.D. (’92, MA ’94)