January 15, 2020
Dear students, faculty, and staff,
I write to you with our weekly update from the COVID-19 Risk Assessment Group. This week, we are excited to begin welcoming our students back to campus for another semester at Reed!
New cases at Reed
Since our last update, we have identified one new confirmed COVID-19 case at Reed. This case was placed in isolation promptly after the college's notification of the positive test results.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.
Flu vaccine available at the health and counseling center
The HCC has a limited number of influenza vaccine doses available for any student, staff, or faculty member who has not yet received their annual flu shot. Please contact the HCC at 503-777-7281, health.services@reed.edu, or via the student health portal for more information or to schedule an appointment.
Start of term COVID-19 testing
All community members who will be accessing campus during the spring semester must sign up for and complete a COVID-19 test prior to returning to on-campus activities. Testing next week will take place on Wednesday, January 20 and Thursday, January 21 from 8 AM to 3 PM in Gym II of the Sports Center. Students who will be living on campus should be tested before they move into on-campus housing. All students will be asked to quarantine until they receive their test results.
Starting the week of January 25, surveillance testing will be held every day (Monday through Friday) from 8 AM to 12 PM in Gym II of the Sports Center. An email with a link to sign up for testing dates and times for the semester will be sent no later than next Friday, January 22.
Students who tested positive over break
If you are a student who tested positive for COVID-19 from a provider other than Reed's Health & Counseling Center (HCC) during winter break, please upload the documentation of your positive test result to the secure Student Health Portal as soon as possible. A documented positive test result will exempt an individual from surveillance testing for 90 days due to the high rate of "false positive" results after an individual has had the virus. If you are unsure of how to access the portal or upload the document, please contact the HCC at health-services@reed.edu or 503-777-7281.
Staff and faculty members who have received a positive COVID-19 test result from a non-Reed healthcare provider should contact Human Resources at 503-777-7255 or hr@reed.edu to share this result, if they have not done so already.
State and National Trends
Multnomah County, where Reed College resides, remains in the "Extreme Risk" category, based on local COVID-19 activity data. You can review the risk categories and associated limitations on the State of Oregon's COVID-19 webpage here.
COVID activity across the nation remains elevated, with widespread transmission in all states, including Oregon. Public health authorities continue to emphasize the continued importance of masking, social distancing, and other disease prevention steps, even as vaccine rollout continues.
As you prepare for your return to Reed, please review CDC's guidance on traveling safely. As always, 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.