Faculty Senate COVID-19 Update, 3/24/2021

Dear Truman Community,

We again have 7 active student cases, the same as last week, and 1 active faculty/staff case, which means that we did a pretty good job of handling Spring Break. Of course, some students will be going home for Easter, so please continue to be careful and make smart choices, since we still worry about spread from travel.

A six minute video summarizes this week’s numbers and upcoming news:

https://zoom.us/rec/play/76stxi-MEhvoZUQFAvsea92JJ3o1hL85uW6iGwXZuiMHBNm1230xq-BCeElGvbl_m1JTBePP4IVtZ1Jn.QZIguK0xc4M18mOb?autoplay=true

Missouri is currently in phase 2, so Truman faculty and staff are eligible for the vaccine, and phase 3 starts next Friday, April 9, expanding eligibility to everyone age 16 and older. Local providers will start opening up their sign-up lists, andwe expect more mass vaccination events in the region. Truman is hoping to host some clinics soon after, with the goal of making vaccines available to the entire Truman community before we leave for the summer. Details are still being worked out, so watch for an announcement about that soon.

A survey was sent out to all students yesterday, asking them about their vaccine plans and worries. Please encourage students to complete the survey this week, so that we can better understand what we should be working on.

Even with all the good news, we still continue to recommend that you follow the same guidelines we’ve been talking about:  wear a mask, keep distance, and all the rest. With the weather improving, more things can be outside, and that improved ventilation is great.

The local election is next Tuesday, April 6th, including a race for the county health board, so we encourage eligible voters to learn about the candidates and vote.

Although we aim these e-mails and videos at Truman faculty and staff, please do share this information or the video with students in your classes, with parents, and elsewhere. This information is shared with all students via Blackboard page, sent directly to all Truman faculty and staff, and shared on our public web page:

https://www.truman.edu/coronavirus/covid-19-working-group-videos/

If you have questions or topics you’d like to know more about, please contact us at: ndmoore@truman.edu

-Faculty Senate COVID-19 Working Group
Nancy Daley-Moore, PhD, Health Science
Christine Harker, PhD, English
Scott Alberts, PhD, Statistics

Active Cases
in Isolation
Recovered
Cases
Week Student Fac/Staff Total
Jan 5 1 1 312
Jan 12 18 1 320
Jan 19 11 0 344
Jan 26 21 3 362
Feb 2 47 5 381
Feb 9 36 5 419
Feb 16 15 0 461
Feb 23 14 0 471
Mar 2 6 0 484