Despite 124 active COVID-19 cases at Oswego State, the school will still host in-person classes on Monday due to the interpretation of New York State’s guidelines.
Oswego State’s first 14-day period lasted from Aug. 28 to Sept. 11, recording 82 positive cases on-campus that counted toward the 100-case threshold.
While those 82 cases still count toward the cumulative number of cases at Oswego State, the total cases counting toward the 100-case limit restarted at zero on Sept. 12.
At 5:30 p.m. on Friday, the school reported 31 active cases on-campus which count toward the threshold. For the two-week period, there are 34 total active positive cases with the addition of three off-campus cases.
Oswego State identifies on-campus students as those living on-campus, as well as students who live off-campus but take in-person classes. Off-campus students are those taking all classes remotely from home.
As of Sept. 12, Oswego State has 124 active cases and 130 cumulative cases after six recoveries. Eighty-eight students are in campus-supported quarantine while 83 are in campus-supported isolation.
No employees have tested positive in the second 14-day period, though one tested positive during the first two-week period, as reported to the school’s Office of Human Resources.
In the state’s “supplemental guidance” for state colleges and universities released on Aug. 28, it states that a school must move to remote learning for 14 days should the school record 100 active cases or have 5% of the school’s population test positive for COVID-19 in the 14-day period.
Should a school reach the 100-case threshold within 14 days, the Department of Health will “evaluate the institution’s efforts to contain COVID-19 transmission” at the school after the two weeks of remote learning.
“During such period, in-person athletic events, extracurricular programs, and other non-essential student activities must be suspended, and dining halls and other on-campus food services must be converted into take-out or delivery models, as appropriate,” the guidelines state.
Oswego State’s Chief Communications Officer, Wayne Westervelt, told The Oswegonian that the guideline was set by the state in order to manage the total number of cases.
Even though the number was close for Oswego State in this past 14-day period, the state is using the guideline to attempt to isolate the spread and allow it to be “harder” to reach 100 active cases in each subsequent 14-day period,” according to Westervelt.
The Oswegonian also reached out to the New York State COVID-19 Hotline and asked about the same clarification for the state’s guidelines within 14 days of testing, to which the person on the hotline said, “That’s probably going to be something you’ll have to clarify with your individual school about since there’s no real guidance on that. I don’t have any information that I feel comfortable confidently sharing.”
The Governor’s office nor the New York State Department of Health could be reached for immediate comment despite several phone calls and emails.
While SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras was visiting Oswego State on Wednesday, President Deborah Stanley clarified that on-campus quarantine is for students who have come in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 or is waiting for test results for COVID-19. Isolation is for students who test positive themselves.
The school preemptively suspended all athletic practices, meetings and workouts for 14 days on Friday and will re-evaluate the “pause” of athletics after the 14 days.
“Our students want this to succeed,” Stanley said on Wednesday. “I talk to students all day long, every day, and they want the campus to stay open. Students are starting to get the message that this is a really big responsibility.”
