Dear Colleagues,
The COVID-19 Task Force had a meeting on Thursday, February 10th. Here are the meeting notes from the Augsburg Staff Union representative.
MDH Updates
- Situation update: Hospitalization rate moderating, including among 18-24 age range.
- Variants: 91% of samples sequenced for week of 1/2 were omicron; currently 100% samples sequenced for week of 1/16.
- Updated CDC guidance for institutions of higher education: no surprises. Following guidance for the general public with few exceptions. Residence halls are considered a low-risk congregant setting, so use the same quarantine and isolation guidelines as the general public.
- Recommended screening testing when students arrive for a new term: members of the COVID-19 Task Force are reviewing the recommendation.
Dashboard updates
- Enhanced mitigations ended over weekend
- Cases this week (1 so far) would need to be up 1.5x over last week to remain in moderate range. If cases this week are below that, the on-campus case rate will be low (blue).
- During the COVID Task Force meeting today, there was a brief discussion on Augsburg’s mask mandate. No decisions are being made at this time to change the mandate, and we are still in a mask mandate on campus. The discussion was to talk about any future decisions being based on metrics. Sarah Griesse recommended that we stay in communication with the campus community about this topic and how decisions will be made for it in the future.
On-campus vaccine/booster clinic
- Wednesday, March 30, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m., East Commons
- This will be for the booster and first dose
- There will also be a second date for anyone who needs a second shot
- Will be open to students, staff, and faculty, etc.
On-campus testing opportunity update
- Completed student survey to quantify demand
- Working with MDH on process and reporting requirements
- CLIA waiver is in place and have ordered tests
- Still confirming schedule, space, PPE, volunteer staffing, IT
- Once the details are finalized, the initial plan is to test from 5-7pm M, W, F
- To be determined what date this will start
City vaccine mandates
- Minneapolis and St. Paul may lift their vaccine requirements for restaurants and other venues this week; the U is doing so effective 2/10
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.