Northern Vermont University has moved to remote teaching through Friday after two residential students tested positive for Covid-19 on its Johnson campus Tuesday.
That brings the total number of positive cases in Johnson to eight, said Sylvia L. Plumb, NVU spokesperson.
Sports practices, games and tours on the campus are canceled through Labor Day, and the SHAPE fitness facility is closed through Sept. 6.
“With cases rising in Vermont and throughout the United States, NVU has made this decision to keep our campus communities safe,” Plumb said in a statement. “These positive cases underscore how critically important it is for our community members to be vaccinated, masked up properly while inside, and testing as appropriate.”
Other campus services such as the dining hall and cafe remain open.
Staff and faculty can report to work on campus but have been asked to hold meetings via Zoom. Students have been asked to check email and Canvas for Zoom links and other details about their classes.
“Know that we are making this move out of an abundance of caution to keep our NVU community safe,” interim President John W. Mills said in a Tuesday announcement. “The urgency of this message is to underscore that we need to pivot to remote teaching and communicate how to do that to our students, especially those new NVU students who haven’t had to do this before.”
He also urged everyone on campus to continue to mask up.
“We continue to hear of students, faculty, and staff who are not masking or are not masking properly. It is imperative that each of us mask out of concern for our own health and that of others.”
NVU has remained open throughout the pandemic but went to a remote learning system in mid-March 2020, Plumb said. Classes started Aug. 23 with the majority of students arriving between Aug. 19 and 21. There have been seven cases on the Johnson campus since Aug. 23.
The Vermont State Colleges System issued a vaccination mandate on July 22 and NVU requires students who come on campus any time this semester to be vaccinated. Visitors aged 12 and older must be vaccinated and people under 12 must be masked, Plumb said.
“As we saw COVID-19 cases rising in Vermont and across the country, NVU issued an indoor masking mandate effective Friday, August 23 at 5 a.m. That mandate is still in [place],” she said.
As for the plan ahead, Plumb said, “We will evaluate the situation at the end of the week and make a decision about returning to in-person classes on the Johnson campus at that time. We have maintained many of our safety protocols from the previous year including masking, open testing, designated quarantine and isolation housing, as well as single occupancy rooms for all students.”
The students who tested positive are in isolation. The university has its own contact tracing system and is working with the Vermont Department of Health.
Weekly testing is available at the Johnson and Lyndon campuses to campus-based students, faculty and staff. Johnson plans to have additional testing available Friday.
Testing schedule
- NVU-Johnson: Wednesdays, noon-1:15 p.m. – Multi Gym; this Friday 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Multi Gym
- NVU-Lyndon: Wednesdays, noon-1:15 p.m., Alexander Twilight Theatre Lobby
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated when NVU first switched to remote learning.
