After a very welcome break, we have returned to a campus that is full of life and, for now, largely free of COVID. In Knox County, the CDC COVID-19 Community Level has remained Low for several weeks, and at Kenyon, new cases over the past three weeks have been limited to only a handful of students (mostly off campus during break) and no employees.
But while we are in a period of relative calm locally, the global pandemic is not over. In the U.S., cases continue to decline in most states, but over 30,000 cases are still reported daily. In other parts of the world, Omicron subvariant BA.2 has driven another surge in cases, and this same subvariant is accounting for an increasing fraction of cases in the U.S. as well. Whether or not we will experience a wave of BA.2 cases remains to be seen, but while we do have to be prepared for another rise in case numbers, this possibility, by itself, is not cause for alarm.
Omicron BA.2 appears to be even more transmissible than BA.1, but the immunity provided by recent prior infection and/or up-to-date vaccination is still likely to prevent severe illness. Cases may well rise again on campus, but we know what we need to do; masking, monitoring symptoms and testing when necessary have all become second nature for most of us. Everyone should continue to test when symptomatic or at least three days after exposure, and all positive student tests must be reported to Health Services at health@kenyon.edu.
Contemplating a future in which cases continue to rise and fall is challenging. But if we continue to trust one another and to make individual choices that demonstrate that we are each worthy of that mutual trust, facing such a future together will feel less bleak and uncertain. After two years, each of us is in a different place when it comes to COVID, but by continuing to extend grace and compassion to one another despite these differences, we can reestablish the bonds that make Kenyon the one place we all share.
Sincerely,
Drew Kerkhoff
Chair, COVID-19 Steering Committee
Associate Provost and Professor of Biology