December 11, 2020

Dear students, faculty, and staff,

I write to you with our weekly update from the COVID-19 Risk Assessment Group.

New Cases at Reed

Since our last update, we have identified no new confirmed COVID-19 cases at Reed. We continue to report all Reed-associated COVID-19 cases online within 24 hours of confirmation, found in the "Total Cases" section of the dashboard.

Saliva testing availability

As we enter the final week of the fall 2020 semester, additional testing capacity has been established for students who wish to receive a COVID-19 test prior to traveling home for winter break, as well as continuing surveillance testing for faculty/staff whose work requires them to be on campus. This week, testing will be offered Monday, 12/14 and Thursday 12/17 from 8 AM to 12 PM. If you are not already included in routine surveillance testing but are interested in receiving a test for one of these purposes, please reach out to the Risk Assessment Group at coronavirusquestions@reed.edu to discuss.

Start of term testing for the Spring 2021 semester

All individuals who will be accessing campus during the Spring 2021 term are asked to complete a COVID-19 test in the two weeks prior to the start of the semester on January 25. During this time, testing will be available on January 11 from 8 AM to 12 PM, and January 14, 15, 20, and 21 from 8 AM to 3 PM. To allow community members ample time to make travel plans for their return, the sign up for testing appointments is now available. Faculty and staff are asked to limit on campus work until they have their test result. Staff should consult with supervisors about work schedule adjustments as necessary. Students are asked to quarantine in their on- or off-campus residences until they have received their test result before resuming regular campus activities. This quarantine period is currently estimated to be about 1-2 days; we encourage all students to take this into consideration when making return to campus plans.

State and National Trends

COVID-19 activity in the Portland metro area and across the state of Oregon remains elevated but consistent over the last several weeks. This potential plateau in COVID-19 activity is a direct result of strong COVID prevention measures in place in our larger communities. We ask you to please help us keep Reed a safe place to live, work, and study by participating in surveillance testing, the weekly risk assessment survey, and, for those both local and remote, all other essential response measures on and off campus.

If you have questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to the COVID-19 Risk Assessment Group at coronavirusquestions@reed.edu.

Sincerely,

Madison Riethman, MPH, CPH
COVID-19 Response Coordinator and Health Project Manager
Health & Counseling Services
Reporting on behalf of the COVID-19 Risk Assessment Group

PS: As a reminder, you can track all our COVID-19 communications to members of the Reed Community here.