With 82 positive COVID-19 cases toward the New York State 100-case threshold in only the first week, Oswego State officials have temporarily paused in-person classes for 14 days, starting Saturday, Sept. 19, according to an email sent from President Deborah Stanley sent to all students.

The choice came after a “consultation” with SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras on Friday, Stanley said. She also mentioned that this does not send students home, nor is the campus shutting down its operations.

During this 14-day pause, the school will “ramp up efforts” to contain COVID-19 and will work toward restarting in-person classes on Oct. 5.

“We are getting so close to the cap of 100 it seems inevitable we will pass it before September 25. With 8 days to go, SUNY Oswego is reporting 82 positive cases,” Stanley said. “In that light, we determined that taking a pause in order to manage the virus with the goal of containing it on our campus is best for our entire college community.”

For this 14-day period, all instruction, both at Oswego State’s main campus and its campus in Syracuse, will move to online learning. That includes hybrid and face-to-face classes. However, students will still have access to labs, studio work and other research activities. Those will “continue to be available in existing formats as directed by faculty,” Stanley wrote.

Students who live on-campus will also be required to remain on-campus in their current rooms or housing situations. Stanley added that any student who elects to leave campus during the 14-day pause “will have card access removed and will not be eligible to return to campus housing.”

“All students, both on-campus and off-campus, are required to limit their movements to essential needs only,” Stanley said. “As medical professionals warn, traveling home and back to campus can spread the disease in both locations. Further, we do not have the capacity to house or monitor precautionary quarantine for all students upon their return.”

There will also be continued health services including increased testing. Over the next two weeks, all students — on-campus, off-campus and commuter — will be re-tested, according to Stanley. Students in quarantine and isolation will be cared for in their “current locations” until released by the Oswego County Health Department.

Previously, Stanley and Malatras spoke at a press conference on Sunday that increased measures to curb the increase of COVID-19 cases at Oswego State. While cases have fallen to the single digits for new daily on-campus cases, it is still at 82 in the first week of the state’s second two-week cycle.

Those measures included harsher penalties for students going against the Oswego Forward Pledge, as well as the suspension for sports for the entirety of the fall semester.

“In fact, in response to unacceptable levels of transmission of COVID-19 on the SUNY Oswego campus, we followed every one of the actions listed in the New York State Pause guidance except stopping face-to-face classes,” Stanley wrote. “However, to give containment our very best efforts, we need to comply fully with the guidance and suspend in-person classes.”

The 14-day pause, should the school demonstrate that it has spread of COVID-19 has been contained, should end in early October. The school “fully expects to be authorized” to return to in-person classes on Oct. 5.

Stanley thanked “the vast majority of students who have been following the rules” at the end of the email, talking about their dedication and resiliency “in this difficult time,” as well as the staff who have been “applying all their energy and effort to teaching” and providing essential services and direct care.

“This is our time to rebound and come out of this pause even stronger and healthier than before,” Stanley said. “Let’s encourage each other to take all precautions and do the right thing.”