Date: August 31, 2020
Subject: Positive Student COVID-19 Test Result
From: Tom McLarney, MD
To the Wesleyan community:
We have finished our first week of testing, and as classes begin and we’ve completed a few thousand tests, we can report that two students have tested positive for COVID-19. Two employees have also tested positive. Though unfortunate, this is an occurrence we were well prepared for. The employees are taking the appropriate precautions, and the students, in the care of Health Services, are resting comfortably in supportive isolation.We have also initiated contact tracing, and close contacts have been notified for appropriate quarantine.
Information about our protocols to ensure the health and well-being of any student or employee who tests positive, as well as that of the entire campus community, are outlined on our Testing page. Those who test positive will be isolated for at least 10 days. After 10 days, the isolation may end as long as the individuals are feeling better and have not had fever within 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication. At this time, we feel confident that the student cases, while active, are contained incidents and not cause for undue concern. To remain informed about our testing results and procedures, visit Wesleyan’s COVID-19 Dashboard, which will be updated regularly.
Beginning this week, everyone should be scheduling their own testing times on Monday/Thursday or Tuesday/Friday in order to meet the twice-weekly pace expected of all students. Please go into your WesPortal and schedule your tests for this week as there are a limited number of appointments on each day. We will only be testing Monday through Friday beginning this week.
We appreciate everyone’s continued diligence in adhering to the University’s policies, which are described in the Code of Conduct for students, and the Community Agreement for employees. As always, if you have any questions, please contact the Health Services team at 860-685-2470.
Sincerely,
Tom McLarney, MD