In a weekly update to the student body and faculty on campus, the associate vice president of Student Affairs Dr. Andrew Miller held a press conference on the morning of Sept. 27.
Miller started on a positive reassuring note this week when speaking about the number of positive cases and the level of transmission in Walker County.
“We have now dropped below the mark we were previously sitting at on campus and the number of positive cases in Walker County as a whole has seen a decline in transmission as well,” Miller explained. “Death rates across the state are also dropping.”
Miller stressed that in terms of vaccination rates, the campus will be on a steady track while navigating through this fall term into the spring semester as the younger population continues to see an increase in vaccination rates.
The university has partnered with Out of Labs to provide the BinaxNOW over-the-counter COVID-19 testing kits. These kits are made available at the Student Health Center (SHC) located on campus.
“Students, faculty and staff can pick up a testing kit per week using their ID at the pharmacy,” Miller said. “There are actually two tests within each kit in which you take one test and three days later, you take the second test for verification purposes.”
Miller continued the update by explaining how we are on the back end of the virus as far as the new variant and transmission rates.
“We are back at much stronger rates than other universities in our area,” Miller explained. “For example, when it comes to our counseling center, we have returned to the same level of utilization that we were seeing two years ago pre-covid.”
As we continually heal, Miller explained he was glad we are back up and running for our students who truly depend on what we have to offer as a campus and university.