Dear Kenyon College community,
You no doubt are aware of a rise in COVID cases nationally as well as here in Ohio. Indeed, Knox Public Health issued new restrictions Tuesday in recognition of rising case counts and increased hospitalizations, and Gov. DeWine called for elevated caution in his statewide address last night. While our test results suggest that the virus is not currently circulating among our students in residence, our testing program has yielded two positive results among employees in the past seven days. We do not currently have any active student cases, nor any students in quarantine, but we must remain as vigilant as ever.
With that in mind, we urge the following:
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Keep gatherings to 10 people or fewer, and follow all public health protocols: wear a mask, keep your distance, wash your hands. Restrict campus gatherings to include only members of our Kenyon campus community.
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Students, limit your movement off-campus to essential travel only. Minimize errands to the greatest extent possible.
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Employees, continue to exercise caution when traveling to and from campus. If you have any reason to believe you have been exposed to the coronavirus, do not report to campus for work. Talk with your supervisor and consult Kenyon’s protocols for keeping our workplace healthy.
We will continue to monitor data closely, including wastewater tests in the Village of Gambier as well as data and guidance from Knox County and the State of Ohio. Our testing data will continue to be updated weekdays on the College’s online dashboard, and other information, including details on fall departure and pre-Thanksgiving student testing, is available on our website. We will keep you informed should conditions warrant an elevation of our alert status or other precautionary measures to mitigate the risk of transmission.
We all have learned a great deal this semester about what we are capable of, both on and off campus. And we have much to be proud of, due in no small part to the actions each individual in our community has taken to keep peers and colleagues safe and healthy. None of this is easy, but your sacrifices have made a difference, evidence of which is in our testing results. Please continue this good work as we enter the homestretch of the fall semester and look toward spring.