Additional SUNY New Paltz faculty member tests positive for COVID-19
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The update below was shared on March 25.
Campus community members can view updates at the Coronavirus Information and Coronavirus FAQs webpages, which are being updated regularly as this situation evolves.
Dear Members of the Campus Community:
An additional SUNY New Paltz faculty member notified his supervisor today that he has tested positive for COVID-19.
This is the fifth confirmed case in the SUNY New Paltz community and the third faculty member to test positive.
The individual is a male adjunct faculty member in the Department of Theatre Arts. He was last on campus on March 13, and reported that the onset of symptoms occurred on March 14. He was hospitalized on March 23, and the test produced a positive result today, March 25. He remains in the hospital under medical care.
The faculty member attended a meeting with colleagues in McKenna Theatre room 108 on Thursday, March 12, and taught a class in Parker Theatre room 101 on Friday, March 13. We are temporarily closing these buildings and dispatching cleaners with appropriate training and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to clean these buildings in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance. Faculty and staff in those buildings are encouraged to collect their belongings and vacate the premises as soon as possible.
We are working closely with the Ulster County Department of Health and the Ulster County Office of Emergency Management to reach out to any students, faculty or staff members who may have come in contact with this individual, and instructing them to immediately self-isolate as per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines.
We are activating all necessary protocols and will provide timely updates to all members of the campus community. We remind members of our community that the CDC has advised that there is “No Identifiable Risk” to an individual who walks or briefly shares a room with a COVID-19-positive individual. That guidance can be found in Table 1 of the CDC’s interim guidance for risk assessment related to perceived levels of exposure.
We continue to recommend that members of our community who are experiencing flu-like symptoms practice good public health protocols by resting, drinking lots of fluids, reducing contact with others, restricting their movement around campus, and contacting the Student Health Center or their primary care physician.
Campus leadership is continuing to monitor developments related to COVID-19 with guidance from the CDC and our local and state health departments, as well as SUNY System Administration and the Governor’s Office.
Please continue to monitor campus e-mail for updates. Campus community members can view updates at the Coronavirus Information and Coronavirus FAQs webpages, which are being updated regularly as this situation evolves.
Sincerely,
Donald P. Christian, President