Positive COVID Cases Double At SUNY Fredonia
SUNY Fredonia.
A vaccination clinic took place Friday in the city of Jamestown. Photo by Eric Tichy
SUNY Fredonia.
A vaccination clinic took place Friday in the city of Jamestown. Photo by Eric Tichy
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In just one week, the State University of New York at Fredonia has seen its confirmed cases of COVID-19 more than double this semester.
SUNY Fredonia President Dr. Stephen H. Kolison described the sudden spike, from 26 cases among students and staff to 54, as "serious" in a message sent to the campus community.
"This pandemic has shown us time and again that one or two bad decisions can drastically change the situation," Kolison said. "Unfortunately, that is the situation in which we find ourselves now. Our total positive COVID-19 cases this semester doubled from 26 last Thursday to 54 cases as of this morning. This is serious.
"Students, please understand that there are really two metrics that determine if a SUNY campus must go on 'pause' or full remote," he continued. "The first is the rolling 14-day percentage of positive cases from on-campus testing. If you look at the SUNY COVID-19 dashboard, we are well-below the threshold at this time. However, we have to reverse this current trend to keep the campus safe and to keep from getting to that number. The other metric is the capacity to isolate and quarantine students who are unable to go home for 10 or 14 days. The sudden increase in positive cases, combined with the dramatic increase in students who need to quarantine because of close contact with those positive cases, means we are approaching our capacity. If we have another weekend as we had last weekend where students are not making smart decisions, we will have some hard decisions to make. Hence, I am again asking every student to remain vigilant and not to take chances."
Earlier this week, Kolison said SUNY Fredonia was moving toward resuming full in-person instruction for the fall 2021 semester. The university president said the return will be contingent on updated public health guidance from SUNY, the Chautauqua County Department of Health, the New York State Health Department and the Centers for Disease Control.
The county Health Department noted 25 new confirmed cases on Friday, bumping the total to 8,119 to date. There are currently 162 active cases, four people with the virus in the hospital and 525 in quarantine. There have been 7,815 recoveries during the pandemic and 142 virus-related deaths.
In the south county, a COVID-19 vaccination clinc was held at the Allen Park ice rink in Jamestown. The clinic, hosted by the Chautauqua Center, was for city employees and some made available to the public.
According to the state's vaccine tracker, 36,639 county residents -- 28.6% of the population -- have received at least one dose, with 16,512 completing their vaccination series.