Nazareth College announces updated COVID-19 protocols
In-person on Jan. 17. Changes regarding booster, masks, & visitor vaccination.
Rochester, NY (01/04/2022) — Nazareth College just announced updated protocols to its students, faculty, and staff this afternoon. Here is a summary of the communication that was sent:
We look forward to beginning the spring semester with in-person classes on January 17, as planned.
We have been closely monitoring updates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, New York state, and Monroe County Department of Health regarding COVID-19 and the variant spread and transmission. Dr. Michael Mendoza, commissioner of public health for Monroe County, has provided us with excellent insights into the omicron variant of COVID, and provided very specific suggestions about how to proceed. He has stated very clearly that campuses like Nazareth are the safest possible places to be due to our vaccination requirement and highest-in-the-county levels of compliance. He does not recommend that we change anything about our current plans. And so we proceed.
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What's new for the spring 2022 semester
Booster: Faculty, staff, and students are required to have a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot by February 1, or as soon as you are eligible.
Testing: You are strongly encouraged to take a pre-arrival test (on your own), if possible. If the test is positive, please isolate at home, contact your county health department, and email Health and Counseling with the date of the positive test and list any symptoms you had and the date they started.
Masks: The indoor mask requirement continues for everyone on campus. Research finds that wearing a snug fitting N95 respirator or KN95 mask offers more protection, so that type of mask is recommended by New York state. Nazareth is ordering some KN95 masks for students, faculty, and staff. Citing research, Dr. Mendoza also said that double masking - a disposable surgical mask covered by a cloth mask - offers more protection than either one alone.
Visitors: Effective January 15, visitors are required to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination (paper or digital), or proof of a negative test within the previous 48 hours, along with photo ID (ie: driver's license, school ID) for all group events that are:
- in the gym, pool, Golisano Training Center, performance spaces, or chapel
- and any indoor campus event open to the public where 100 or more guests are expected
Campus Safety will coordinate staff to check documentation.
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Meanwhile, these protocols continue:
- Follow all testing, quarantine, and isolation guidelines. (Nazareth is awaiting clarification on changes to quarantine length from 10 to 5 days.)
- All employees, including student workers, screen daily: Complete the brief online screening each day before starting work on campus, and follow any onscreen instructions
- Vaccination requirement. For those granted an exemption, the weekly surveillance testing requirement resumes the first week of classes.
Our Nazareth College leadership team continues to closely monitor the latest guidelines related to COVID-19, to provide a learning environment that is both engaging and protective of health and safety.
We look forward to the spring semester and continued learning, growing, and striving to enact meaningful change.
Nazareth College
Julie Long, Chief Public Relations Officer | (585) 389-2456 | (585) 781-8186 (c) | jlong2@naz.eduShare this Story
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