Monday, September 21, 2020

Dear Parents and Family,

Your student received this earlier today:

Community Health and Safety Update

The university continues to work with local and state officials to support and implement policies to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The university is pleased with the proclamation signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds on Friday, Sept. 18, to continue the closure of bars in two Iowa counties, including Johnson County, until 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 27. The proclamation also requires restaurants in the designated counties to stop serving alcohol at 10 p.m. during this same time period.

The responsibility is on all of us to continue to engage in the behaviors that help mitigate the spread of the virus. This includes wearing face coverings whenever inside university buildings or whenever social distancing is not possible, as well as avoiding large group gatherings on and off campus. We are able to continue to work together to create the culture we desire at the University of Iowa.

Campus Operations Update

The university continues to work with local and state officials to support and implement policies to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus. What has occurred since the initial spike in late August is a reduction and now a plateau of positive cases, according to self-reported cases by University of Iowa students, faculty, and staff.

While we must remain vigilant, it should be acknowledged that, as a community, we have considerably slowed the spread of the disease. However, if the positive case rates spike and stay high, the university will consider additional actions. These actions will be taken in coordination with the Johnson County Public Health, the Iowa Department of Public Health, and the Board of Regents, State of Iowa.

University of Iowa Self-Reported COVID-19 Testing

These data reflect new cases since Sept. 18, 2020.

The University of Iowa has published an updated snapshot of self-reported positive COVID-19 tests from faculty, staff, and students.

Number of self-reported cases of COVID-19:

Students

  • New cases: 29
  • Semester-to-date: 1,908

Employees

  • New cases: 4
  • Semester-to-date: 37

These numbers reflect only self-reported positive or presumed positive COVID-19 tests from UI faculty, staff, and students on the academic campus since Aug. 18, 2020. These data will not match data reported by the UI Hospitals & Clinics or by the Iowa Department of Public Health for several reasons, including different testing time intervals and geographic scope. Students who also are employees of the university are only reported in the student number to avoid double counting. The UI has more than 30,000 students and nearly 30,000 employees. Many employees continue to work remotely but have self-reported to authorize sick leave.

Number of residence hall students in quarantine: 1*

Number of residence hall students in self-isolation: 11**

*Quarantine: Quarantine is used to keep someone who might have been exposed to COVID-19 away from others.

 **Self-isolation: Isolation is used to separate people infected with the virus (those who are symptomatic and those with no symptoms) from people who are not infected.