BREAKING: Second confirmed COVID-19 case among faculty

Dear Members of the Campus Community:

A second SUNY New Paltz employee notified College leadership that that employee has tested positive for COVID-19.

This individual is a special education faculty member and is currently off campus and in quarantine. The employee was last on campus on Thursday, March 12.

As a precaution, we are closing Old Main effective immediately and it will remain closed at least until Monday, March 23, to enable deep cleaning by a third-party contractor.

We are working closely with the Ulster County Department of Health and the Ulster County Office of Emergency Management to reach out to any students, faculty or staff members who may have come in contact with this individual. We are activating all necessary protocols and will provide timely updates to all members of the campus community. We remind members of our community that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has advised that there is “No Identifiable Risk” to an individual who walks or briefly shares a room with a COVID-19-positive individual. That guidance can be found in Table 1 of the CDC’s interim guidance for risk assessment related to perceived levels of exposure.

We continue to recommend that members of our community who are experiencing flu-like symptoms practice good public health protocols by resting, drinking lots of fluids, reducing contact with others, restricting their movement around campus, and contacting the Student Health Center or their primary care physician.

Campus leadership is continuing to monitor developments related to COVID-19 with guidance from the CDC and our local and state health departments, as well as SUNY System Administration and the Governor’s Office.

Please continue to monitor campus e-mail for updates. Campus community members can view updates at the Coronavirus Information and Coronavirus FAQs webpages, which are being updated regularly as this situation evolves.

Sincerely,

Donald P. Christian, President

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