November 19, 2021

Dear students, faculty, and staff,

Below, we report to you three things you need to know today.

• NEW COVID-19 CASES: This week, we were notified of one new COVID-19 case in a Reed community member. The positive individual was contacted promptly and given instructions to isolate. Contact tracing activities quickly identified a small number of potentially exposed individuals, who were notified by the college but not required to quarantine, per current CDC and Oregon guidelines. We continue to report all associated COVID-19 cases online, found in the "Total Cases" section of the dashboard.
• BOOSTER ELIGIBILITY: Today, the CDC authorized expanded eligibility for COVID-19 boosters to all adults 18 and older who are at least 6 months out from their last dose. Vaccines will be available at the HCC in the near future; students who are interested should reach out via email at health-services@reed.edu or phone at 503-777-7281. Faculty and staff can make a vaccination appointment with Kaiser using the Kaiser app, online at kp.org, or by phone at 503-813-2000.
• CHANGES TO SURVEILLANCE TESTING NEXT WEEK: Testing will be available next week on Tuesday, November 23 in Greenwood. Unvaccinated individuals who will be on campus next week are required to come in for a test.
  
  Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, we will not be selecting additional individuals for surveillance testing; however, any community members who wish to test next week may drop into the testing center on Tuesday to do so. Our normal surveillance testing processes will resume after break on Tuesday, November 30.

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

In health,

Madison Riethman, MPH, CPH
COVID-19 Response Coordinator
Reporting on behalf of the COVID-19 Risk Assessment Group:

Gary Granger, Director of Community Safety
Mandy Heaton, Executive Director of Communications & Public Affairs
Karnell McConnell-Black, Vice President for Student Life
Kathy Oleson, Dean of the Faculty & Professor of Psychology
Tawana Parks, Dean of Students
Hugh Porter, Vice President for College Relations & Planning
Madison Riethman, COVID-19 Response Coordinator & Health Project Manager
Suzy Renn, Professor of Biology
Timmie Rochon, Medical Services Director
April Sams, Director of Risk Management & Environmental Health and Safety
Lynn Valenter, Vice President of Finance and Treasurer

PS: Our COVID-19 dashboard includes current information on the total number of cases, vaccination rate, and other public health indicators. Additionally, all our COVID-19 communications are cataloged here.