<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif"><span id="gmail-docs-internal-guid-032924be-7fff-2d16-11d6-b64cab9b7ab0"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Hello Colleagues,</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">I hope this weekend has been a good one for you.  Two new questions have come to me:</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><b>Question:</b> Can an instructor inform the class that there is a positive case in the class (without revealing a student's identity)?</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><b>Answer:</b> This is not recommended because it will inevitably cause students to wonder who the infected student *is* and likely increase anxiety in the classroom.  If every member of the class is present on a given day except for one, the identity of the student who tested positive will become obvious.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><b>Question:</b> How is contact tracing handled if the student tests positive in a different county, not Clinton?</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><b>Answer:</b>  There is a hand-off from one county to another for purposes of quarantine or isolation depending upon where the person will be convalescing.  However, the contact tracing can be done either by the county who received the positive test, or handed off to the state for remote contact tracing.   In cases where the contact tracers know the person is a student, the school is contacted by the health dept to assist with contact tracing information (classes, attendance, vax status etc.)  Clinton County Health Department asks us to assist in this manner frequently. </span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">An additional concern came in about students who are not properly masking--masks falling below the nose.  Additional masks have been placed around campus--in the health center, in Angell Center, in Feinberg Library, if a student needs to pick up a new mask.  (I've noticed that some of them lose their elasticity after repeated use.)  The only additional assurance I can share with you is that it is a violation of our campus policy *not* to properly mask when indoors.  Faculty can refer a student's name to Student Conduct if the student is not properly masking and is non-responsive to requests to properly mask.  And while masking is absolutely important and recommended behavior while indoors for all of us, it might also be reassuring to know that our Health Center and Emergency Response Team report consistently that during the last academic year, when we had no approved vaccinations for most of the year, COVID was not spread in the classroom.  It was spread *outside* of the classroom when individuals were not masked and not socially distanced.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">You should also see student photos fully loaded into Banner now.  There was a glitch between the company that handles the pictures and SUNY IT that is now resolved.  Apologies that this matter took some time to resolve.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Wishing you all a good week to come,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Anne</span></p><br></span></div></div>