NAU COVID-19 Community Briefing
Dear Lumberjacks,
At the beginning of the spring semester, as we entered the unknown with the Omicron variant on the rise, NAU reintroduced and refined a number of COVID-19 management strategies. Our approach was underpinned by a clear framework for sharing information and decisions through meetings, deliberation, and advisement from our Public Health Advisory and AY21-22 Steering Committees, who would convene regularly and whose input would be reflected in these weekly reports to our campus.
I greatly appreciate the hard work and good counsel of these committees, as well as the resilience, determination, mutual care, and respect of our entire Lumberjack community. Together, we navigated this phase of the pandemic successfully, delivering on our top priorities of continuing our exceptional academic programs, meeting the curricular and co-curricular needs of our students, and supporting the health and safety of our Lumberjacks and our home communities throughout the state.
Based on continued and consistent improvement in the COVID-19 outlook, I am pleased to share today a final weekly briefing that summarizes our plans moving forward and reflects the review and endorsement of our advisory committees this week:
- Conclude weekly COVID-19 email briefings and conclude weekly convenings of the Public Health Advisory and AY21-22 Steering Committees.
- Conclude NAU’s random mitigation testing program, while continuing encouragement, access, and availability of testing resources through the spring semester.
- Continuance of masking protocols on NAU campuses based on the latest CDC guidance (implemented March 7 and noted on our Jacks are Back website).
- Remain vigilant in our monitoring of public health conditions and reconvene advisory groups as needed to react to any new developments.
At the bottom of this message are our standard updates on COVID-19 information that helped inform these decisions.
Over the past week, I have spent time out on our Mountain Campus at meetings and events with students, faculty, staff, and members of the greater Flagstaff community. In all of these engagements and interactions, I have seen participants making personal choices to mask or not and being respectful of the choices of others. I have also seen a vibrancy and hope that had for so long been dampened by the pandemic restored and reinvigorated. I look forward to the opportunities ahead, to the rich engagement that will allow us all to realize the possibilities of higher education, and to the scholarship, creative activities, sporting events, social connections, and community engagement that enrich the fabric of our community and our lives.
I want to again thank our committees for their dedicated work and thank all of our Lumberjacks for embodying a community of care that has enabled a successful spring semester.
Sincerely,
José Luis Cruz Rivera
President
COVID-19 data
The following data informed the deliberations described above.
- COVID-19 cases: The number of Arizonans testing positive for COVID-19 is low.
- Isolation and quarantine: As of today, NAU is managing fewer than 10 COVID-19 cases among students on- and off-campus on the Flagstaff Mountain Campus, representing .05% of the total Flagstaff Mountain Campus student enrollment.
- Testing results at the Flagstaff Mountain Campus: For the week ending March 19, testing at the Fieldhouse, Campus Health Services, and self-reported COVID positives yielded the following results:
- 321 tests
- 125 tests by NAU students, faculty, and staff
- 239 tests by non-NAU community members
- 10 positives (3.1%)
- 321 tests
Additional information
Masks:
- N95 masks from the federal government are being distributed in Coconino County. Please fill out the form on the North Country Healthcare website to request an N95 mask.
- In addition, NAU has N95 masks available for students and employees:
- Students: info desks in the Union and DuBois Center (NOTE: even students who have already received one can pick up additional N95 masks at these locations)
- Employees: via Campus Supply at NAU-CampusSupply@nau.edu
- In addition, NAU has N95 masks available for students and employees:
Vaccines:
- Vaccines are a proven and effective means of reducing the risk of infection and lowering the risk of adverse health effects. More information about vaccines and their benefits can be found on the CDC website. Visit the following links for information on where you can be vaccinated:
Testing:
- NAU strongly encourages individuals randomly selected for mitigation testing or who have been exposed to COVID-19 to be tested at any of the sites identified through the following links:
- NOTE: The NAU Fieldhouse testing site will close on May 14, following the end of the semester and NAU Commencement ceremonies