August 9 Weekly CIRT Campus Update
CIRT Update
Published August 9, 2021
Dear students, staff and faculty:
Below, please find important campus, regional and national updates from the COVID-19 Incident Response Team (CIRT).
Campus Status
Over the past seven days, there have been zero positive cases of COVID-19 reported through the on-campus campus screening program. For more data on the screening program, please visit Coronavirus Screening.
All-Community Meeting
Our next all-community update meeting will take place this Wednesday, August 11, at 12:30 p.m. on Zoom: https://smith.zoom.us/j/93293837876.
Change in Safety Protocols
In this morning’s message to campus, President McCartney outlined three changes to the campus’ COVID-19 protocols, noted below. These changes may lead to further questions about campus protocols or area-specific guidance. We encourage you to send those questions to covid19info@smith.edu and attend Wednesday’s all-community meeting for further general updates.
- Effective August 11, masking will be required of everyone, at all times, in all indoor campus spaces. The only exceptions will be students’ rooms, and faculty and staff members’ individual offices. Students must wear masks in dining halls except while eating.
- Asymptomatic testing continues to be required of everyone on campus. As of August 22, the testing frequency will be weekly for those fully vaccinated and twice weekly for those who have an approved exemption from vaccination.
- Only those in Smith’s testing program will be allowed to attend indoor events, and we may have to limit the size of audiences for some events.
Return-to-Campus Information
As a reminder, college departments are working through the return-to-campus process. In order to be in compliance with this policy, employees (both staff and faculty) must complete two steps before returning to campus:
- Complete the vaccination protocol by either uploading proof of full vaccination or by requesting and receiving an approved exemption. If you are staff, your approval would come from the Office of Human Resources; if you are faculty or an instructor, your approval would come from the Office of the Provost.
- Receive a negative COVID test within the three business days prior to returning to campus. Staff should also coordinate with their manager ahead of their return to confirm their eligibility and the date of their return to campus, within their assigned phase. Employees must schedule their own tests at https://www.timecenter.com/smithcollege/boka/time/?rid=56904&tjid=&oid=&tidval=. More information on the testing program can be found at https://www.smith.edu/covid19/testing. The testing center is located in the Carroll Room in the Campus Center.
As a reminder, health and safety policies are set by the college, and departments cannot implement local protocols counter to those policies. Please note that today’s update to the campus’ safety protocols does not change the return-to-campus timeline or policy, but the college will continue to follow public health guidance and update its policies as needed.
As always, please send any questions to covid19info@smith.edu
COVID-19 Incident Response Team (CIRT)
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