Covid 19 Task Force Update

Dear Colleagues,

The COVID-19 Task Force met on Thursday, May 5th. May 19th will be the next scheduled time that the task force will meet. Here are the notes from the meeting:

MDH Updates

  • Revised IHE Guidance to align with CDC Community Levels, incorporate the previous “scenarios” document
  • The COVID 19 Task Force will review scenario recommendations for discussion at our next meeting on May 19th 
  • MDH will survey COVID coordinators later this month to evaluate effectiveness of reporting change, collect information on fall plans, and evaluate communications between MDH and institutions going forward
  • Next MDH call will be June 1; no calls planned for July

Dashboard update

  • 7-day case rate in Hennepin County reached medium community level on April 29, but this won’t be reflected on CDC website until today; 7-day growth rate continues to slow (but cases are still growing)
  • Minneapolis issued a recommendation that everyone, regardless of vaccination status, wear masks indoors
  • On-campus case numbers have increased but are still low
  • Will update dashboard reporting to align more clearly with the revised IHE Guidance in the coming weeks

CampusClear stats

  • End of term slide continues – fewer app uses in April vs March vs Feb
  • Who is using it remains consistent, 60% students and about 20% / 20% staff and faculty
  • This is the final month of the campus clear app

We also set up a Google Form so Augsburg Staff Union members could state their questions or concerns to be addressed at the meeting. We did not receive any questions this week.

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.