Good afternoon,
Greetings from the Office of Residence Life. In my role I work closely with the Gryphon team to support our residential community.
I am reaching out to touch base regarding the possible situation of a student within our residential community testing positive for COVID this semester. I wanted to share this information with you so should that happen, everyone will be on the same page, and hopefully minimize any concerns you may have.
Here are a few things for you to note:
- First and foremost, if you feel unwell and think you may be experiencing COVID-like symptoms, regardless of your vaccination status, stay in your residence, avoid contact with others, and call the Health and Wellness Center at 610-758-3870. Over the weekend and after hours, a clinician is on call and available for emergencies. Supplemental to the Health and Wellness Center, we have partnered with the Lehigh Valley Health Network to provide access to their 24/7 nurse triage line (1-888-402-LVHN). Speak with a nurse to assess COVID and other symptoms, answer your questions, and discuss your testing options.
- Any student directly impacted by a positive COVID case in a residence hall will receive a private message from the Health and Wellness Center with guidance on next steps and what they need to do (such as addressing any medical concerns or actions required).
- For those of you who are vaccinated, someone testing positive in the community will not likely impact you directly and you will be able to stay in your room and go about your schedule.
- If you are unvaccinated, you will receive a private message regarding any steps you will need to take to keep yourself safe.
- If someone does test positive, our Facilities team will be treating shared bathrooms and high touch points in that community with additional disinfectant treatments out of an abundance of caution. They will also be wearing additional protective gear for their own protection as well. So if you happen to see a Facilities staff member treating one of our community’s common spaces, there isn’t any reason to be alarmed.
Should there be an unexpected situation that will require members of the community to be made aware of new information or to change their behavior in some way (such as removing gaming equipment, closing a lounge, etc.), we will work with our campus partners to identify the plan of action and share that information with you immediately.
Again, we just wanted you to have an idea of what would happen should someone test positive, so as to try and help minimize any potential misinformation or misunderstanding, and to alleviate any potential concerns about that happening.
I hope the first week of classes went well.
Take good care.