Dear Colleagues,
The COVID-19 Task Force had a meeting on Thursday, February 3rd. Here are the meeting notes from the Augsburg Staff Union representative.
MDH Updates
- Situation update: Some indications of transmission slowing, but hospitalizations continue to rise. Nearly 100% samples sequenced for the week of 1/16 thus far were omicron.
- State KN95 mask distribution will not include higher ed. Masks for K-12 are funded by the education department.
- Pharmacies should have N95s for distribution soon if they don’t already.
- Odds and Ends:
- MDH looking into MIIC permissions for use with employee populations (not approved to date, and Augsburg does not use MIIC to access employee records).
- MDH is not aware of a Niosh-approved clear N95. If that’s needed, MDH has a recommended surgical mask with a clear panel and other recommended practices.
Dashboard updates
- Potential to end enhanced mitigations and return to fall semester practices if case numbers on campus continue to decline (communications about this will be sent to faculty, staff, & student organizations)
- Campus transmission rates for the prior two weeks (ending Jan. 22 and Jan. 29) still holding at the moderate level (1%- 3%). Pace of cases also quieter so far this week.
- No evidence of classroom transmission on campus to date
Campus Clear
- 50% more reports than last month
- Comparing Jan 2022 to Jan 2021, fewer reports this time but a larger % are faculty
We set up a Google Form so Augsburg Staff Union members could state their questions or concerns to be addressed at the meeting.
No questions were submitted this week: Please note: Urgent questions related to COVID-19 should not be submitted via the Google Form, those questions should continue to be sent to helpline@augsburg.edu, calling 612-474-3100, and/or by using the Augsburg self-reporting form.
The staff union representative will continue to send weekly updates based on information gathered in the COVID Task Force meetings and questions asked in the google form.