Moving to Alert Level Blue

Highlights:

• With positivity on campus under 2% and in Denver under 4%, DU moves to Alert Level Blue.
• During Alert Level Blue, capacity increases to 50-60%, event sizes are capped at 50 people, and visitors are allowed following visitor protocols.
• If you have not yet completed the vaccine survey, please log into PioneerWeb, and select the “COVID-19 Vaccination Portal.”
• We will continue our efforts to appropriately categorize everyone working at DU and to advocate for vaccine access for those eligible and most at risk.

Dear DU Community,

Although we continue to closely monitor national and global pandemic conditions, I'm glad to be able to share that in Colorado and Denver the percent of positivity, case burden, hospitalizations, and deaths are all decreasing, with positivity in Denver now below 4%. On campus, positivity continues to be even better, with under 2% positivity since January 4, when winter term began. Testing volume is high – we have nearly 18,000 tests resulted so far for winter term - over half the total for summer and fall combined.

We believe our low numbers are due, in some significant part, to increased testing, strong overall compliance with our testing requirements, ongoing monitoring of wastewater, and swift isolation and quarantine procedures. With these stable and improved conditions in mind, we are now moving to alert level blue, and continuing in Phase IIIb of campus access. During alert level blue, capacity increases to 50-60%, event sizes are capped at 50 people, visitors – including research participants and clients - are allowed on campus following visitor protocols. We want to thank you for your strong compliance which allows us to safely and comfortably make these adjustments. Please continue to remain vigilant and practice social distancing, mask-wearing, and good hand hygiene.

Another encouraging number is the number of people in Colorado who have received at least one dose of vaccine relative to the total confirmed cases. Over 450,000 people have received at least the first vaccine – exceeding the total number of confirmed cases in Colorado – which is just under 400,000. Although of course we would love to see higher vaccination numbers and fewer cases, this shift in tide and disease mitigation is encouraging. Because the first phase of vaccinations has focused on those most at risk, even this early vaccination effort should lead to continued improvements in outcomes related to COVID-19. Following changes to CDPHE/DDPHE guidance, DU is now revising quarantine requirements for those who have been vaccinated and who do not live in congregate settings. Specifically, 14 days following a documented second dose of vaccine (upload your vaccine record to myhealth.du.edu portal), you will now be exempt from quarantine following exposure or travel, while still required to symptom monitor and test following all existing protocols.

Finally – we continue to move forward with our efforts to support vaccination. If you have not yet completed the vaccine survey, please log into PioneerWeb, and select the “COVID-19 Vaccination Portal.” If you are eligible for vaccination because of your DU employment, we will verify this and provide a letter of support to your health care provider. We encourage you to pursue all options for vaccination; please see this link for resources. Importantly, via new revisions as of 1/29, the category of “teachers” under essential workers has been further clarified to include child care and K-12 teachers and school staff, while higher education is not captured in priority vaccination. Therefore, at this time, working in person at DU does not meet a priority category except for those personnel otherwise captured as 1A or 1B.1 personnel. We will continue our efforts to appropriately categorize everyone working at DU and to advocate for vaccine access for those eligible and most at risk.

Please reach out to COVIDcoordinator@du.edu, our DU COVID information line, 303-656-7137, or to me directly if we can support you or if you have questions about this new information.

Sarah Enos Watamura, Ph.D.
University COVID Response Coordinator