This is a developing story. It will be updated as The Campus learns new information or as the Covid-19 situation on campus changes.
The Middlebury Campus – Update — Friday, Dec. 10
Two new cases — an employee and a student — have been added to the college’s dashboard, bringing the total number of reported active cases to 52. A Middlebury Updates email from administrators said contact tracing was in progress.
“Given the number of recent cases and the fact that members of our community are traveling, communication with close contacts may take longer than usual,” the administrators wrote.
Students can sign up for optional testing tomorrow from noon to 3 p.m. The email also shared a new webpage with information for those who are exposed, symptomatic or have received a positive test result.
“We hope you have a restful and restorative break, and we look forward to being together again on campus in January,” administrators said at the end of the email.
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The college is moving classes online and transitioning to grab-and-go meals after 34 new cases were reported on campus, bringing the total number of active cases to 50, administrators said in an email to students this evening.
Athletic competitions and other in-person events are canceled or postponed, administrators wrote. Informal indoor gatherings are restricted to six people. These new restrictions begin Friday at 5 a.m. and will remain in effect for the remainder of the semester.
Provost Jeff Cason and Dean of Faculty Sujata Moorti notified faculty in a 6:15 p.m. email that they would need to move tomorrow’s classes and next week’s exams online. Students were told to depart from campus as early as possible instead of waiting until after they take their finals.
The college is also sunsetting indoor dining beginning on Friday morning, with plans to offer grab-and-go meals instead.
The announcement about the new restrictions arrived at the end of Midd-Kid Night and Midd Night Strolls, when many students were in town to take advantage of holiday deals.
The college’s Covid-19 Reporting Dashboard was updated around 2 p.m. today with 10 new positives, bringing the total number of reported active cases on campus at that time to 22, their highest point since the start of the pandemic; this record was previously set yesterday after the college reported 10 new student cases.
The additional cases reported in the administrators’ email seem to have come in after the dashboard was updated.
The college is seeing cases in clusters, and most of those who have tested positive are fully vaccinated, Associate Vice President for Public Affairs Julia Ferrante said in an email to The Campus this afternoon.
