January 21, 2022 – COVID Statistics Update

Dear Whitman community,

Today is the first Friday of the spring semester and also the final day for every member of our campus community to complete their first baseline test, so it seems like an appropriate time to give you an update on what our campus COVID-19 data is telling us so far.

Last week, January 10–16, we had 6 employees and 6 students test positive from symptomatic, close contact or student-athletes testing, as well as 10 employees and 8 students who tested positive through baseline testing, for a total of 30 positive cases and a 1.41% community positivity rate. On January 16, there were 35 people with active cases of COVID-19, 22 of whom were isolating off campus while 13 were isolating on-campus (Whitman has a total of 65 on-campus isolation spaces).

Though these numbers may seem high given previous case numbers at Whitman, we are not surprised by them given the current omicron surge, and, in fact, are cautiously optimistic about our numbers and what they mean about how seriously our community is following our protocols on campus. It remains essential that everyone continues carefully masking, keeping our social gatherings at five people or less, getting tested if you have any symptoms of COVID and following all our other campus COVID-19 Protocols, as next week will be a critical time for us as we begin the final days of baseline testing and look for signs of on-campus transmission.

In addition to the numbers reported in the dashboard, we had another 75 students who self-reported positive COVID-19 tests during the winter break, which is not surprising given that households and social gatherings have been identified as the places of the highest virus transmission. However, because these students responsibly isolated at home and had negative tests before returning to campus, the baseline testing results for students so far have been fairly encouraging. On Monday, January 17, 691 students took baseline tests and just 8 were confirmed positive, while on Tuesday another 245 students were tested with 3 confirmed positive.

For your ongoing reference, I would like to direct you to our COVID-19 Dashboard, which has been reworked to include details that provide a comprehensive picture of our testing data. Please note that by hovering over the terms below the statistics in the dashboard, you will see definitions for each data point. This dashboard is an essential source of information for our campus community, so let’s review the data sections included:

Vaccination and Booster Data. The syringe icon has been changed from showing the percentage of people fully vaccinated to showing the percentage of campus who have received their booster, which is currently 87% and will continue rising as more members of our community become eligible. We have 2% of the community with approved exemptions.

Weekly COVID-19 Testing Results. This section now includes the number of positives identified through baseline testing, the total number of positive cases from all testing sources, and, most importantly, the Community Positivity Rate, which tells us the percentage of our campus community that tested positive that week. This number plays a significant role in evaluating if COVID-19 is spreading on campus and what mitigation measures should be in place.

Cumulative Spring COVID Testing Data. This new section shows the total number of positive cases on campus from all testing sources as well as a cumulative Community Positivity Rate, showing the percentage of the campus population that has tested positive for COVID-19 since January 4, 2022.

Following the close of baseline testing next Friday and evaluation of the comprehensive testing data at that point, we will be sharing any possible adjustments to our campus activities as well as a new Threshold Action Level document. Some of you may remember that we had a version last spring that helped the cabinet and elected faculty members determine what COVID mitigation measures should be in place on campus. The new version, developed with our consulting epidemiologist, will play a similar role and is being revised to take into consideration our high campus vaccination and booster rates as well as what we now know about how COVID in general and the omicron variant specifically is most likely to spread.

I hope this weekend will provide you all with a chance to relax after a full first week of classes. Starting yet another semester impacted by COVID-19 is disappointing to us all, but we remain encouraged by the strength and resiliency of the Whitman community as we continue to learn, work and live together through this pandemic.

Best,
Peter

Peter Harvey
Chair, Coronavirus Task Force