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After ending the year under orange alert protocol, the Rochester Institute of Technology announced on January 22, 2021 that the campus would revert to yellow alert protocol for the start of the upcoming Spring semester.
"A number of important factors are behind this decision," the Spring Planning Task Force explained. "While the prevalence of the virus across our country and in our community is higher than it was for our fall start, we have more experience living amidst a global pandemic."
As students continue to file in after having submitted negative pre-arrival tests, the university is expecting to have every student tested within the first two weeks of classes due to their increased testing capacity. Students will be invited to have their tests in any form offered by the Student Health Center, with additional options being added as the semester progresses.
"Getting an invitation to testing is not truly an invitation to testing in the general sense of the word; it is an expectation,” Wendy Gelbard, the associate vice president of Wellness, explained. “And the expectations are that all students will be tested regularly and it’s not optional. It’s part of being on campus.”
Under a yellow alert, all non-instructional facilities will be limited to 50 people and all non-instructional gatherings will be limited to 25 at most. While indoor dining is permitted at a maximum of two people per table, it is required to maintain six feet of distance at all times when masks are removed for eating and drinking.
"We successfully completed in-person instruction in the fall due to the perseverance of the entire campus and our strict adherence to the three Ws — wearing a mask, watching your distance, and washing your hands, the Spring Planning Task Force explained." Now is the time to add a fourth “W” to our efforts to stem the spread of COVID-19—Willpower. The willpower to fight transmission of this virus for the next few months. Together, we successfully finished the fall semester. Let’s repeat that success this spring."
If there is an increase in prevalence of COVID-19 and/or the infection rate, university officials will revert to orange alert protocol and limit all non-instructional indoor gatherings to 10 people, at 33% capacity for outdoor events or at 25% capacity in common residential areas.