COVID-19 campus updates: Feb. 25 edition

Through the spring semester, campus officials are providing weekly updates through CU Boulder Today and weekly Campus Q&As.

Boulder County remains in Level Yellow: Concern

Boulder County shifted to Level Yellow: Concern on the COVID-19 state dial on Saturday, Feb. 6. Under Level Yellow: Concern, a personal gathering is limited to a maximum of 10 people from no more than two households. 

Reminder: A household is composed of one or more people who occupy a housing unit. On campus, your household is defined as you and your roommate(s). Off campus, household means your roommates and anyone who lives in a dwelling with you.

Learn more about what Level Yellow: Concern means for your campus experience.

Campus update on summer and fall 2021

• Provost Russell Moore and Chief Operating Officer Patrick O’Rourke sent an update to the campus about plans for summer and fall 2021.
• The campus will offer a combination of in-person, hybrid in-person and remote courses for the summer 2021 term. Opportunities for campus events and activities will increase during the summer session as much as public health guidelines allow.
• In-person classes are expected to increase in the fall.
• Another update to the campus will be shared on or before March 24.

Monitoring testing hours and locations

Sites returned to standard hours Monday, Feb. 22

The monitoring testing sites at Kittredge Central, the Sustainability Energy & Environment Community (SEEC), Village Center, University Memorial Center (UMC) and Rec Center are open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday.

• Village Center and Community Commons
• Kittredge Central (Room S163)
• University Memorial Center (UMC)
• Rec Center
• Sustainability, Energy & Environment Community (SEEC)  

Monitoring testing reminders via text

• Faculty, staff and students can receive select COVID-19 messages via text message. These include reminders about monitoring testing, availability of testing results and more. Visit the COVID-19 Notifications form and enter your mobile number to opt in.
• A webpage details information about the requirements and expectations for campus participation in the monitoring testing program.

Understanding monitoring testing results

• The monitoring testing program has begun providing notifications for results where there are signs indicated with low virus level. This result indicates that the person could either be in the early stages of infection or at the end of infection. When this occurs, the person should return for another monitoring test in 48 hours and observe quarantine guidelines until another test is completed.
• It may occur that a sample will test positive through monitoring and then a follow-up diagnostic test result is negative. The monitoring test can detect an infection earlier when a viral load is lower and later after an infection has mostly passed. This occurs with a number of diagnostic tests both on and off campus. Every test is subject to its own performance characteristics, and each test performs as expected within its parameters. This is something to discuss with a health care provider in the event that another test is warranted.

Vaccines

On-campus administration

• At this time there is no action needed for students, staff and faculty to sign-up for receiving the vaccine through CU Boulder. An ongoing list of faculty, staff and students who are identified as eligible for receiving the vaccine under the state’s current eligibility phases is prepared by Human Resources and the Office of Data Analytics. This list is used to notify eligible faculty, staff and students for their opportunity to schedule an appointment for a vaccine. 
• The CU Boulder vaccine webpage provides additional information.
• As of Feb. 24, 207 individuals have received a full course of the COVID-19 vaccination through CU Boulder. 

Status of receiving vaccine shipments

• The campus requests vaccines through the state ordering system each week. Each week an allocation team at the state determines and approves amounts for providers in the state. There was a three-week period in February when no CU Boulder vaccine allocations were approved by the state. Allocation amounts and shipments received have been impacted by supply issues, weather delays and state distribution prioritization for all providers.
• As more vaccines become available CU Boulder faculty, staff and students who are eligible will be notified based on the current state eligibility phase. They will also be provided information about the vaccine and what to expect when it becomes available. 

Vaccine information on COVID-19-ready dashboard

• Information about the number of people who have been fully vaccinated through CU Boulder will be available and updated on the campus COVID-19-ready dashboard on Tuesday, March 2. This information will be updated on a weekly basis.
• As an optional administering site for a vaccination that is not required, the campus will not be able to identify how many total CU Boulder faculty, staff and students have received the vaccine, given that many in the campus population are likely to receive their vaccine from other providers.

Find your study spot

• Over the course of the winter break, teams worked on improving the reservation process and increasing bookable space on campus.
• Visit the Find Your Study Spot webpage to see more about spaces available to reserve for studying or eating.
• Bookable rooms also have posters outside the door with links directly to the CU Boulder Room Scheduling tool.
• Campus affiliates can now sign in with their IdentiKey and password, and no longer have to wait to have an account approved.
• Get detailed instructions for scheduling a space with the room scheduling tool.

Campus Q&As

• This week’s Campus Q&A featured discussions on remote learning, safety measures on campus, vaccines and more. A recording of the Feb. 23 session is available online.
• The Campus Q&As are held at noon each Tuesday and continue throughout the spring semester. On March 2, the session will focus on vaccine safety. The focus of the subsequent sessions for the semester will alternate each week between students/families and faculty/staff.  

 View prior updates