Throughout Winter Term and Spring Semester, Vice President for Student Life Jon Dooley is providing regular email update messages to keep students and parents informed about the efforts related to COVID-19.
Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff,
This email is an important recap of updates from the past week – please read the entire message so you can be informed about vaccines, testing, and important university updates.
Current status
- Elon’s current alert level is “Level 2 – High Alert” on the Elon COVID-19 Dashboard.
- Since last week’s email update, Elon has received 40 new reports of PCR-confirmed cases of COVID-19 among students and employees.
- As of yesterday afternoon, there were an estimated total of 35 active cases, with 159 students in quarantine or isolation.
- Within the past week one new cluster of positive cases from Men’s Soccer has been reported to the state.
- During the month of February Elon administered a total of 27,138 COVID-19 tests, identifying 112 cases, for a positivity rate of 0.41 percent. In the month of January these totals were 15,583 tests, 107 positive cases, and a positivity rate of 0.69 percent.
Vaccination information
Detailed information about vaccine distribution, including links to state and county information are available on a special Ready & Resilient webpage. North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper has accelerated vaccine eligibility in the state, making Elon employees, including student employees, eligible to receive the vaccine starting today, Wednesday, March 3 – a week earlier than expected. Also, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services now plans to begin the move to Group 4 – including college students in residence halls and group living arrangements – on March 24. We strongly recommend that students, faculty, and staff get vaccinated whenever and wherever the COVID-19 vaccine is available to them.
Updates on gathering limitations and campus operations
Governor Cooper lifted the modified stay-at-home order and eased restrictions on certain businesses and gatherings across the state, effective last Friday, February 26. The gathering limits at residences in the Town of Elon have NOT changed from what was established by emergency declaration last spring – no more than 10 persons indoors and 25 persons outdoors. Updated information for the university community about gathering limits and university operations can be found in the February 26 email to students, faculty, and staff, archived here on the Ready and Resilient website.
Faculty and staff – sign up now for monthly testing
All staff and faculty are asked to sign up for their required monthly testing appointment (March, April, and May) by next Friday, March 12. Detailed information was sent to employees in a February 26 email from Jeff Stein and the Ready and Resilient Oversight Committee, archived online here.
Parking for weekly testing
There are now 10 parking spaces available in the Oaks parking lot designated for Student COVID Testing Parking Only. These 20-minute parking spaces are located along the fence and signs indicate the designated parking spaces. These spaces are not available to students going to classes or other appointments on campus. If these spaces are misused, students will be ticketed and/or towed and parking privileges could be revoked.
Travel discouraged during March break days
In order to continue to protect the health and safety of the university and local community, travel out of the area is strongly discouraged during the upcoming break days in the academic calendar. We ask that all students remain on campus and minimize the risk that comes from non-essential travel and being exposed to others outside the Elon university community.
Wellness moment and Chaplain’s reflection
Volunteering is good for the mind and body. Serving others, even in simple ways, helps those in need while you also increase your health and happiness, decrease stress, combat depression, keep yourself mentally inspired, and find a sense of purpose. Phoenix Serves is a great resource to find volunteer opportunities in and around the community.
University Chaplain Jan Fuller’s weekly reflection is offered to help us in our search for meaning during this challenging time – this week’s reflection, “A Little Rain” can be found here on the Truitt Center blog.
Information is updated regularly on the Elon Ready & Resilient website. The next weekly COVID-19 update will be sent to all students, faculty and staff at 10:45 a.m. next Wednesday, March 10, unless an earlier message is warranted.
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Dr. Jon Dooley
Vice President for Student Life