{"id":5151,"date":"2022-03-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-11T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nau.edu\/president\/?p=5151"},"modified":"2024-08-08T17:43:33","modified_gmt":"2024-08-08T17:43:33","slug":"nau-covid-19-community-briefing-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/president\/news\/nau-covid-19-community-briefing-4\/","title":{"rendered":"NAU COVID-19 Community Briefing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Dear Lumberjacks,<br><br>Following last week\u2019s update to NAU masking protocols, I am pleased to share that we continue to see a decline in COVID-19 cases throughout our statewide communities. Our university is well-positioned to deliver a rich and engaging experience through the remainder of the semester, and our Lumberjacks are making individual choices and supporting one another in realizing their aspirations for a bright Spring 2022.<br><br>As we head into Spring Break at NAU, there are no major changes to report to our protocols. Masks are optional and should be worn at individuals\u2019 comfort level in statewide sites operating in a Low or Medium\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/TemplatePackage\/contrib\/widgets\/covidcountycheck\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/TemplatePackage\/contrib\/widgets\/covidcountycheck\/\"><strong>Community Level<\/strong>,<\/a> per the latest CDC guidance. Masks are required in the following specific locations:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>NAU buses<\/li><li>Campus Health Services and other clinical\/health care settings<\/li><li>Fieldhouse testing and vaccination site<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>As our students, faculty, and many employees prepare for a week of rest and rejuvenation, I encourage all in our NAU community to keep the following in mind as they enjoy Spring Break, either at home or while traveling:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>If you are sick, stay home\u2014before, during, and after Spring Break.<\/li><li>If you feel you may have been exposed to the virus, take advantage of the ample testing resources available.<\/li><li>Mask to your comfort level based on local guidance and to your individual health needs; N95 masks are available at NAU and elsewhere.<\/li><li>If you haven\u2019t already, get vaccinated and get boosted.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Our Public Health Advisory and AY21-22 Steering Committees will not meet next week over NAU\u2019s Spring Break, and we will post updated COVID data to the web next Friday in lieu of an email briefing. We will continue to monitor circumstances closely and, if needed, share timely updates.<br><br><strong>Summary of Public Health Advisory and AY21-22 Steering Committee recommendations<\/strong><br><br>Our plans for the week of March 14 are based on the information below and will continue to be evaluated and updated on a weekly basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>NAU\u2019s\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/president\/nau-health\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/president\/nau-health\/\">Public Health Advisory Committee<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0met on Wednesday to review NAU\u2019s latest COVID-19 data and operational updates; the represented groups also shared specialized information from their fields. Given the continued decline in cases, the group planned to meet following spring break to monitor conditions and then switch to ad hoc convenings and consultation as needed. In addition, policies and practices around university travel in the current health context were considered to ensure that they reflect current conditions.<\/li><li>NAU\u2019s\u00a0<strong>AY21-22 Steering Committee<\/strong>\u00a0met on Thursday to review the information from the Public Health Advisory Committee. Based on the information, the group supported the plan\u00a0for monitoring after spring break and for updating travel practices in accordance with the latest guidance.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>COVID-19 data<\/strong><br><br>The following data informed the deliberations described above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>COVID-19 cases<\/strong>: The number of\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/directorsblog.health.azdhs.gov\/what-to-do-next-if-you-test-positive-for-covid-19\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/directorsblog.health.azdhs.gov\/what-to-do-next-if-you-test-positive-for-covid-19\/\">Arizonans testing positive for COVID-19<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0has continued to decline, and\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/covidactnow.org\/us\/arizona-az\/county\/coconino_county\/?s=50083753\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/covidactnow.org\/us\/arizona-az\/county\/coconino_county\/?s=50083753\">Coconino County remains in Medium Community Level<\/a><\/strong>.<\/li><li><strong>Isolation and quarantine<\/strong>: As of today, NAU is managing six COVID-19 cases among students on- and off-campus on the Flagstaff Mountain Campus, representing .03% of the total Flagstaff Mountain Campus student enrollment. This number is down from last week.<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/campus-health-services\/laboratory\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/campus-health-services\/laboratory\/\"><strong>Testing results at the Flagstaff Mountain Campus<\/strong>:<\/a> For the week ending March 5, testing at the Fieldhouse, Campus Health Services, and self-reported COVID positives yielded the following results:<\/li><li>1,110 tests\u2014up slightly\u00a0from the previous week\u2019s total of 1,043<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>871 tests by NAU students, faculty, and staff<\/li><li>239 tests by non-NAU community members<\/li><li>24 positives (2.2%)\u2014down from the previous week\u2019s total of 41<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>15 positives (1.7%) among NAU students, faculty, and staff<\/li><li>9&nbsp;positives (3.8%) among non-NAU community members<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Additional information<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Masks<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>N95 masks from the federal government are being distributed in Coconino County. Please fill out\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/northcountryhealthcare.org\/n95-mask-request\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/northcountryhealthcare.org\/n95-mask-request\/\">the form on the North Country Healthcare website<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0to request an N95 mask.<\/li><li>In addition, NAU has N95 masks available for students and employees:<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Students: info desks in the Union and DuBois Center (NOTE: even students who have already received one can pick up additional N95 masks at these locations)<\/li><li>Employees: via Campus Supply at\u00a0<strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"mailto:NAU-CampusSupply@nau.edu\" target=\"_blank\">NAU-CampusSupply@nau.edu<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Vaccines<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>Vaccines are a proven and effective means of reducing the risk of infection and lowering the risk of adverse health effects.\u00a0<\/strong>More information about vaccines and their benefits can be found on the\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/\">CDC website<\/a><\/strong>. Visit the following links for information on where you can be vaccinated:<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/campus-health-services\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/campus-health-services\/\">NAU Fieldhouse and Campus Health Services<\/a><\/strong><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.coconino.az.gov\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.coconino.az.gov\/\"><strong>Coconino County<\/strong><\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.azdhs.gov\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.azdhs.gov\/\"><strong>Arizona Department of Health Services<\/strong><\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Testing<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>NAU strongly encourages individuals randomly selected for mitigation testing or who have been exposed to COVID-19 to be tested at any of the sites identified through the following links:<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/campus-health-services\/\">NAU Fieldhouse and Campus Health Services<\/a><\/strong><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.coconino.az.gov\/\"><strong>Coconino County<\/strong><\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.azdhs.gov\/\"><strong>Arizona Department of Health Services<\/strong><\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Sincerely,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jos\u00e9 Luis Cruz Rivera<br>President<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dear Lumberjacks, Following last week\u2019s update to NAU masking protocols, I am pleased to share that we continue to see a decline in COVID-19 cases throughout our statewide communities. Our university is well-positioned to deliver a rich and engaging experience through the remainder of the semester, and our Lumberjacks are making individual choices and supporting [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":845,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[19],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5151"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/845"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5151"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5151\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5155,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5151\/revisions\/5155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}