TO: University of Idaho Students, Faculty and Staff
FROM: Scott Green, President
Torrey Lawrence, Provost and Executive Vice President
DATE: Jan. 25, 2021
SUBJECT: Positive Cases Drop; Untested Students May Have Restricted System Access
The COVID-19 infection rate across the state seems to be on a decline. That is also true here on the Moscow campus as we begin the spring semester. But now is no time to let up on the shared responsibilities in the Healthy Vandal Pledge.
We tested 778 people last week, and the percent of positives was 1.80%. Of the first 6,023 tests of the spring semester, only 1.78% came back positive. This is encouraging – and we want to keep it this way.
A small number of students enrolled in in-person classes remain untested. Access to U of I systems may be restricted for students who are required to be tested and have not completed a test nor received an approved exemption from the test. Steps for how to request an exemption or obtain a test have been sent repeatedly to these students. Their lack of testing puts people around them at risk, so it is important for us to take this requirement seriously.
Fifty students who tested Jan. 6-13 received $100 VandalStore gift cards. Notification has been sent to these students. Congratulations!
Surveillance testing continues to be our best tool for catching outbreaks early. If you are invited to test or if you think you may have been exposed, schedule a test at the Student Recreation Center. If you are symptomatic or if the on-campus testing opportunities do not fit your schedule, contact covid19questions@uidaho.edu to request a referral to be tested at Gritman Medical Center’s mobile testing site on South Jackson Street. You can drive through or walk up at that testing location.
It is our shared duty to be diligent and keep each other as healthy as possible.
Keep Calm and Vandal On.
Scott Green
President
president@uidaho.edu
uidaho.edu/president
Torrey Lawrence
Provost and Executive Vice President
provost@uidaho.edu
uidaho.edu/provost