Syracuse University will continue in-person learning into next week but continue to suspend on-campus activities, a university official announced Friday.

SU confirmed 80 COVID-19 cases within a 14-day period as of Friday at 4 p.m., the university’s deadline to report metrics to the New York State Department of Health, Vice Chancellor Mike Haynie said in a campus-wide email. 

Under Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s guidance for reopening schools, colleges and universities that report 100 positive tests within a two-week period must pause in-person instruction and limit on-campus activities for at least two weeks.

“We are cautiously optimistic that the quick and aggressive action we have taken has mitigated the potential for significant additional infection outside this cluster,” Haynie said. “While we are certainly not out of the woods, the data does suggest—if we remain vigilant and compliant—that it is within our ability to contain the current outbreak.”

The university is currently monitoring 76 active cases among students, faculty and staff in central New York. Approximately 68 of these cases are related to one or more off-campus parties held late last week. The majority of these students live in off-campus housing, Haynie said.

The current cluster of infections on campus stems from an individual traveling to Binghamton. Under SU’s public health guidelines, students are required to remain in the central New York area for the duration of the semester. 

“It is now the case that travel to some locations within the state — even some a short car ride away from campus —represents a health and safety risk to our campus and Central New York community,” Haynie said. “Over the past week, the New York State Department of Health has identified a dramatic spike in the COVID-19 test positivity rate in 20 New York state counties and municipalities.”

Binghamton, which is located in Broome County, is one of the counties where cases are spiking, Haynie said. Other areas include Rockland County, Orange County, Westchester County and various locations in the five boroughs of New York City, he said. 

As the university receives more COVID-19 surveillance data over the next few days, SU will determine if it is safe to resume in-person student activities. 

“Our goal is to resume those in-person activities at the first opportunity it is safe to do so, maintaining the health and wellbeing of our community as our foremost priority,” Haynie said.

Published on October 9, 2020 at 5:32 pm

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