COVID-19 Update: Do Not Stop Now
Oct. 29,2020
Dear members of the Saint Louis University community,
We write to you today with concern in our voices and hope in our hearts as we head into this Halloween weekend.
We have done something no one else thought we could do by making it this far into the fall semester. That is a testament to the diligence and perseverance of you, our students, staff and faculty. But particularly, our students.
As you are aware, the COVID-19 virus has begun an aggressive resurgence, across Europe, in the United States, and in the Greater St. Louis region. Our local experts have taken to the media expressing grave concern about this substantial uptick that is threatening the capacity of our local health care system. They continue to emphasize the absolute need to wear masks, maintain social distance and avoid large crowds.
Many of you are watching the updates toour COVID-19 dashboard. As you can see, infections among our students are also on the rise.
With an increase in cases in our region and on our campus, there is increased anxiety. We feel it, too. Our public health, contact tracing and medical experts ascribe the uptick to very specific situations:
- Exposure during trips home to visit family members who had COVID-19
- Roommate-to-roommate exposure
- Exposure to an infected romantic partner
- Exposure among a small group of friends who took their masks off too long to share a meal and talk
- Exposure at off-campus parties tied, in most cases, to student organizations
As the weather gets cooler, we need to remain ever vigilant. We know the cold will push us all indoors, but we must continue to wear our masks, wash our hands and maintain a safe distance from those around us.
If we continue to see increases in COVID-19 cases among our students, we may need to implement additional restrictions to remain on campus until Nov. 24.
We continue to feel blessed to be here with each of you.
Stay safe, be well, wear your mask, and please help us get to Nov. 24 –– together.
Mike Lewis, Ph.D.
Interim Provost
Debra Rudder Lohe, Ph.D.
Interim Vice President for Student Development