Chancellor Blank sent the following message to students, teachers and staff today.
It is being translated into multiple languages; Return here for updates.
To our UW – Madison community,
Through this letter, I instruct all undergraduate students to limit their movement over the next two weeks, in order to reverse the recent increase in COVID-19 cases.. Monday, September 7, from 5 pm to Monday, September 21, I am asking all undergraduate students to personally limit themselves to interaction and limit their movement which is only necessary for necessary activities.
I would like to thank the many students we know who follow the Public Health Guidelines and support the Badger Pledge by taking steps to prevent the spread of Covid-19: observation for symptoms, using facial ingots and body spacing and Limit gatherings.
But test numbers have not been good over the past few days and have threatened our ability to continue the semester where the campus is open to students.
- An increasing number of COVID-19 cases have been found, especially among students living on-campus, and can be linked to situations where people have not worn face ingots or studied physical distance. We reflect this in the data, but it is also evident in social media posts and in conversations with students who test positive. Unfortunately, many students have chosen to participate in or participate in social gatherings that seem to have a high regard for the seriousness of the virus and the risk to our entire community.
- As you can see in our dashboard report, the total number of each student case has increased in the last five days. An increase in the positive percentage of total tests indicates that this increase is not just due to an increase in testing.
We’ve reached a stage where we need to quickly flatten the curve of infection, or we’ll miss the opportunity to open campus for students this semester, which we know many students really want.
While testing was extended and a slight increase was expected when students returned to campus, the growing number of infected individuals indicates that the virus has spread more rapidly.
In view of this, I instruct all undergraduates to severely limit your personal interactions for the next two weeks, leaving only your residence for the following essential activities:
- Participate in educational activities, including classes, study or research; Individual classes will continue and study spaces will remain open; There is no evidence of virus transmission in these activities
- Getting a COVID-19 test or other medical care
- Buy food
- Going to your or not or camp f-campus job
- Engage in personal outdoor activity such as running or jogging
- Participate in religious observances
The University is taking the following actions to support this two-week effort (this is not an exhaustive list):
- All individual social events have been canceled.
- All student seats except individual and hybrid classes must be held online only
- All registered student union (RSO) events will be online only
- All Reckwell facilities will be closed during this period
- Union meal facilities will be conducted only
- No visitors will be allowed in the residences
In particular, I am telling all undergraduates to avoid social gatherings. This is the main reason for the spread we have seen.
Note that these restrictions do not apply to graduate students, teachers or staff members. The good news is that we see very little evidence of infection in this population. In some cases where we have seen cases, we do not have evidence that the infection was caused by campus activities.
During this time, we expect all students and staff to continue to adhere to the Badger Pledge and Smart Restart campus health protocols, including:
- Cover your face wherever you go, unless you have a place to stay. While we need to wear face ings indoors, you now need to wear outside face ings unless you are involved in personal exercise.
- Practice physical distance of feet or more inside and outside the campus, even wearing a face covering
- Do not participate in any type of gathering
- Respond to phone calls about contact tracing in a timely manner and be truthful in your answers.
- Monitor symptoms through the health screen tool
- Delays in all non-essential travel
As we have previously shared, we will continue to hold students accountable for on and off campus activities, including and including emergency suspension. Community members can report unsafe behavior.
You may be asking why you should comply with this request. I have heard from many students that they want to stay on campus, even though this is a different and longer distance semester. Our seniors want to complete their year without going home. Our freshmen want a high school experience, not a return to their high school days. Only serious repayment of public health protocols by our entire community will make this possible. If infection does not occur, we will need to make more difficult decisions that will significantly reduce our ability to keep campus open for students.
I know that the actions I request for our undergraduate students are significant. This adds another level of uncertainty to their stress, and we all experience it. But, we must reduce infections in our students to ensure they stay healthy, and to protect the health of faculty and staff as well as their Madison community.
Each of us cannot control this virus without changing our normal behavior. Until a vaccine arrives, we should behave in a way that recognizes the danger posed.
I thank our students, teachers and staff for their continued hard work and trust. I especially thank those many, many students whose behavior has been exemplary and hopefully this will connect more with them in the next two weeks. Please protect yourself and others. If you have questions, email [email protected].
Chancellor Rebecca Blanc
