Second Round of Baseline Testing: What We Know So Far

Posted By , and on Aug 28, 2020 | 0 comments

Second round of testing. (Photo by Nicole DeJacimo, Content Producer.)

Second round of testing. (Photo by Nicole DeJacimo, Content Producer.)

 

By Katie Oglesby, News Editor, and Jane Fitzpatrick, Assistant News Editor

There have been 13 new positive COVID-19 results so far during the second round of student baseline testing, according to the most recent email to the Gettysburg College community. Not all results have come back yet, and the college is expecting to receive more positives by the end of this round. 

All informal and formal student gatherings are now prohibited from Friday, Aug. 28 to Sunday, Aug. 30, including those previously sponsored by the College. Students on and off-campus are not allowed to have any guests in their residences or off-campus houses. Anyone who violates these gathering restrictions will be subject to consequences laid out in the behavior rubric sent out at the beginning of the semester.

There will also be a virtual town hall on Sunday at 1:00 P.M., and all students will be expected to attend. 

Next week, there will be 800-900 surveillance tests done next week, including random tests and testing of those who are more likely to have come in contact with currently positive students. 

The most recent COVID-19 Update included a letter from Dr. Richard Keeling of Keeling and Associates, LLC, and the college’s consultant on health and safety.  In his letter, Keeling expressed the urgent need for the campus community to increase precautions.  His recommendation includes imposing more restrictions on gatherings, events, and social activities.  Keeling addressed the current rise in the number of positive cases saying:

“While by no means a crisis, this is a direction and pattern we do NOT want to see continue. We will need to reinforce our purpose and mission for being together and get on the path to discipline ourselves and one another to follow the protocols that we all know contain the spread of the virus.”

Keeling expressed his belief that more restrictions on gatherings, extending quarantine to more students, and enhancing testing should help control and contain the spread of the virus.

Author: Gauri Mangala

Gauri Mangala '21 currently serves as the managing editor for the Gettysburgian. Gauri is originally from Langhorne, Pennsylvania. Aside from her work with the Gettysburgian, Gauri is the treasurer for the Owl and Nightingale Players. She is a double major in Theatre Arts and Anthropology.

Author: Katie Oglesby

Katie Oglesby ‘23 serves as the Editor-in-Chief for the Gettysburgian. She has previously served as Magazine Editor, News Editor, Assistant News Editor, and Staff Writer. She is an English with a writing concentration and political science major, hailing from San Diego, California, but now living in rural North Carolina. On campus, Katie works at the CUB information desk, is an Eisenhower Institute Fielding Fellow, and serves as co-service vice president for the service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega. She spent a semester abroad in Bath, England studying British literature and politics, and spent this past summer interning with the Winston-Salem Journal in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She can usually be found perusing books in the Musselman Library browsing room.

Author: Jane Fitzpatrick

Jane Fitzpatrick '21 serves as Features Editor of The Gettysburgian. She is a Religious Studies major and Middle East & Islamic Studies minor.

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