After fall break

Classes will finish out the semester online and finals will be virtually delivered during finals week. University offices will be open in person on campuses or will deliver services virtually to students, faculty and staff. All public health guidance will remain in effect at all times. Read more about plans for the remainders of the semester at https://covid.colostate.edu/kb/after-fall-break/. 

Saliva screening ramps up, testing update

To date, Colorado State University has conducted more than 24,040 nasal swab tests on students, faculty and staff for COVID-19.

The university has also implemented an initial saliva screening as a first step to determine if a follow up nasal swab is needed to test for COVID-19. This approach enables the university to identify more students, faculty and staff who may not have symptoms for follow-up nasal swab testing. To date, more than 7,000 students, faculty and staff have submitted a saliva sample.

All positive test results from CSU administered nasal swab tests are tallied on the dashboard (https://covidrecovery.colostate.edu/). This also counts positive tests from non-university sites including county testing locations across the state, private health care providers and pharmacies.  More information about our testing strategy is available at https://covid.colostate.edu/kb/university-testing-strategy-protocols-and-updates/.

All faculty, staff and students who want a COVID-19 test may also be tested at other locations, including a Larimer County testing site https://covid.colostate.edu/kb/how-do-i-get-tested/.

New county emergency public health order

The Pandemic Preparedness Team alerted faculty, staff and students to a new emergency public health order issued by Larimer County Public Health, strongly encouraging our community members to do their part to reduce numbers https://covid.colostate.edu/larimer-county-issues-emergency-public-health-order/.

Comprehensive information about CSU’s COVID-19 planning is posted and regularly updated at https://covid.colostate.edu/.

No large “outbreak” at CSU

A change in the way the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment categorized positive cases at CSU sparked confusion about the number of new cases of COVID-19 associated with the university. A clarification was issued by the university at

https://source.colostate.edu/csu-reaffirms-no-current-or-past-large-covid-19-outbreaks/, and Larimer County Department of Public Health and Environment also issued this statement https://www.larimer.org/spotlights/2020/10/08/statement-covid-19-cases-affiliated-csu.

The university’s COVID-19 dashboard continues to reflect all positive cases associated with students, faculty and staff that are known to the university. That dashboard is at https://covid.colostate.edu/dashboard/.

COVID-19 testing summary

As of today, Colorado State University has conducted more than 22,280 tests on students, faculty and staff for COVID-19. The latest testing update is available at https://covid.colostate.edu/kb/oct-8-testing-summary/. More information about our testing strategy is available at https://covid.colostate.edu/kb/university-testing-strategy-protocols-and-updates/.

All positive test results from CSU tests are tallied on the dashboard (https://covid.colostate.edu/). This also counts positive tests from off campus sites including county testing locations across the state, private health care providers and pharmacies.

A CSU Data and Testing Town Hall was held Oct. 2. The town hall was open to the CSU community: students, faculty, and staff. The expert panel answered questions about CSU’s COVID testing program. See here for the closed-captioned recording of the event:  https://covid.colostate.edu/kb/data-testing-town-hall-10-02-20/

Saliva screening implemented

The Pandemic Preparedness Team is implementing saliva screening and is currently in the pilot phase. This screening will enable the university to assess significant numbers of faculty, staff and students a week and determine if a follow up nasal swab is needed to test for COVID-19.

This approach will enable the university to identify more individuals without symptoms in our community for follow up nasal swab testing – a good thing, because those individuals who then test positive can be isolated and their close contacts can be traced. It should be expected that the numbers of positive cases reflected in our dashboard will increase. More information about this strategy is available at 

https://covid.colostate.edu/kb/csu-saliva-screening-test/.

The Stalwart Plan

If you know our fight song, you know that Colorado State University embraces the word “stalwart” – a word that captures our culture of reliability, working hard, and staying focused.

This week, the university launched the Stalwart Plan, a refresh of communications to our students, faculty and staff about COVID-19 precautions, expectations, and information. This includes extensive graphic and communications work, including a refresh of more than 23,000 signs across our campuses about public health expectations and a new COVID-19 website at https://covid.colostate.edu/. 

Comprehensive information about CSU’s COVID-19 planning is posted and regularly updated at https://covid.colostate.edu/.

COVID-29 testing summary

To date, Colorado State University has conducted more than 20,000 tests on students, faculty and staff for COVID-19. More information about our testing strategy and numbers is available at https://covidrecovery.colostate.edu/covid-testing/. You can read a letter to students published in the Collegian, thanking them for helping slow the spread and explaining the university’s approach to wastewater testing at https://collegian.com/2020/09/category-opinion-ltte-a-message-from-the-csu-pandemic-preparedness-team/.

All positive test results from CSU tests are tallied on the dashboard (https://covidrecovery.colostate.edu/). This also counts positive tests from off campus sites including county testing locations across the state, private health care providers and pharmacies.  

Public meeting with city and county

Members of the CSU Pandemic Preparedness Team and President McConnell joined representatives from the City of Fort Collins and Larimer County in a town hall meeting on Thursday, Oct. 1. During the town hall, they answered questions from community members. Watch the town hall meeting.

Quarantine orders for fraternities and sororities, other

Several Colorado State University fraternity and sorority houses have been placed under quarantine orders by Larimer County in over the last several weeks due to COVID-19 cases among students living in the houses. In most cases, only a few students tested positive for COVID-19, but due to the congregate living style of the houses (shared kitchens, bedrooms, living spaces, etc.) the risk of spread is higher. Read more about these quarantines as well as the university’s decision to ask students from two residence halls to stay in their rooms for a period of time while students could be tested.

Comprehensive information about CSU’s COVID-19 planning is posted and regularly updated at https://covidrecovery.colostate.edu/.

COVID testing for move in

Contact tracing

Dashboard launched

Mountain West postpones fall sports

This digest provides frequent updates about CSU’s COVID-19-related planning for the university community and highlights recent decisions and important updates. All faculty, staff and students will automatically receive the digest. Others – including student’s parents and family members – can subscribe. For comprehensive information about the university’s COVID-19 planning, visit https://covid.colostate.edu/kb/.

Addressing COVID-19 positive tests, illnesses

Our plan for addressing exposure, illnesses and positive tests has been updated.

Fall 2020 planning

Public health precautions: The Pandemic Preparedness Team is deploying more than 600 hand sanitizer and wipe stations across our campuses. See more information about public health orders on campuses.

Student accommodations for in-person classes

The process for students to request accommodations has been updated at https://covid.colostate.edu/kb/learning-and-academic-interactions/ under “What if I’m enrolled in face-to-face courses but have a health condition that prevents me from coming to campus?”

Students will be required to log into a daily symptom checker

All faculty, staff and students will be required to log into a daily symptom checker before coming to a campus or leaving their residence halls. A student-specific checker was launched this week.

Faculty and staff travel updates

Guidelines for faculty and staff travel have been updated.

Comprehensive information about CSU’s COVID-19 planning is posted and regularly updated at https://covid.colostate.edu/kb/.

This digest is intended to provide frequent, regular updates about CSU’s COVID-19-related planning for the university community. All faculty, staff and students will automatically receive the digest. Others – including the parents and family members of students – can subscribe at https://publicrelations.colostate.edu/subscribe-to-covid/. 

Please note: this digest will highlight our most current decisions and other important updates.  For comprehensive information about the university’s COVID-19 planning, visit https://covid.colostate.edu/kb/.

COVID-19 Town Halls

Complete recordings of this week’s COVID-19 Town Halls, in which President McConnell and an expert panel answered extensive questions about our COVID planning for fall, are now available.

Fall 2020 planning

Public health precautions: All students, faculty, staff and visitors will be required to wear masks on any university campus, including inside classrooms and buildings, and to follow all other public health precautions and orders on university grounds.

COVID-19 testing: The Pandemic Preparedness Team has created a comprehensive plan for COVID-19 testing of the university community this fall.   

Status of on-campus events

University events are canceled until fall classes start on August 24. At that time, the university’s ability to support events within public health guidance will be reevaluated. Information about Admissions events is available at https://admissions.colostate.edu/covid19/. 

Move-in and residence hall assignments

All residence hall assignments will be complete on July 27. Residence hall move-in this year will begin Monday, Aug. 17, and continue through Friday, Aug. 21, to support physical distancing. Students living in the residence halls this fall should visit MyHousing.colostate.edu to select a move-in time slot. See details on what to expect, what to bring, and how to ship items in advance.

Temporary work adjustments for employees

Under state executive and public health orders, employees who are deemed “vulnerable individuals” (see definition) are not required to work in-person at this time. CSU faculty or staff members who are vulnerable individuals are encouraged to review the accommodations and options already available to them at https://covid.colostate.edu/kb/temporary-work-adjustments-for-faculty-and-staff/.

Beginning Monday, July 27, vulnerable faculty and staff can apply for a temporary work adjustment from CSU through the Office of Equal Opportunity. We will share a link to the application form from this page as soon as it becomes available.

Comprehensive information about CSU’s COVID-19 planning is posted and regularly updated at https://covid.colostate.edu/kb/.