June 4, 2021

Dear students, faculty, and staff,

I write to you with our weekly update from the COVID-19 Risk Assessment Group (CRAG). We have highlighted essential points in yellow.

We send this communication at a time of rapid change in guidance and regulations about our operations and the pandemic. Today, we heard confirmation from the governor that many Oregon COVID-19 regulations, including those on higher education and workplace operations, would be modified or lifted when 70% of the eligible state population has received at least one dose of a vaccine. We will continue to stay informed on this topic, and make changes at our weekly meetings.

New Cases at Reed

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

COVID-19 Vaccine

All Reed community members should seek COVID-19 vaccination that is now widely available in the Portland metro area.

To inform the development of a safe and healthy campus, Reed asks all community members to share their COVID vaccination records with the HCC (students) or HR (staff and faculty). To do so, and for more information about COVID-19 vaccine planning at Reed, please visit the Reed Vaccine FAQ.

Surveillance testing next week

Next week, surveillance testing will take place on Monday and Thursday, June 7 and 10, from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM in the Student Union. The sign up sheet for these dates will be sent via email today.

At this time, all students, faculty, and staff members who will be interacting with others in person on campus should complete one test per week, regardless of vaccination status. For more information about the Reed COVID-19 surveillance testing program, please visit our website here.

Face coverings in indoor spaces

While the state of Oregon allows vaccinated individuals to forego masks and physical distancing in indoor spaces, this requires institutions to have a process to review, verify, and enforce vaccination status for all individuals. The COVID Risk Assessment Group is currently working to establish and roll out a process for this, and anticipates sharing more information on this in the next 1-2 weeks.

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.