JMU Health Update - Feb. 5

Dear JMU Family,

Returning to Campus
We want to thank our students and families for their participation in the COVID-19 entry testing program. Over the course of the week, we completed on-campus tests or verified at-home results for 5,372 students living in residence halls. Out of all those tests, there were only 4 positive results—a rate of .07%! We appreciate your diligence and commitment to the safety of our community.

While we are encouraged by these results, we want to emphasize that preventative measures such as mask wearing, social distancing, limiting contact to social bubbles and handwashing remain imperative. These practices will keep our positivity rate low and stop the spread of the virus. The Virginia Department of Health reports that the 14-day average of positive tests is 9.1% for Harrisonburg and 15.2% for Rockingham County (5% is considered good, 2% is great). So let’s not have a repeat of last semester, when students living on campus attended off-campus gatherings, became infected and then returned to their residence halls.

The university will be expanding free testing opportunities this semester. There will be a weekly clinic for off-campus students on Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Faculty and staff will also have the opportunity to be tested for free on campus beginning Feb. 18. More information will be shared next week.

Update on Cases
The university observed 2 new positive cases of COVID-19 at the Health Center yesterday, putting the total number of active cases at 40. The number of open quarantine and isolation beds is 380 out of 391. More information can be found on the university’s Stop the Spread dashboard.

Update on Vaccinations
With so many questions looming surrounding COVID vaccinations, your patience is greatly appreciated. While the university serves as a partner to the Virginia Department of Health in hosting and supporting the vaccination clinics, VDH continues to be the primary point of contact for scheduling and administering the vaccine. A few critical points of information for you to be aware of are as follows:

• Please only click on a link to schedule your vaccination if you received an email directly from VDH or a VDH employee. Do not click on a link that has been forwarded from a family member, friend or colleague.
• The “from” section of the email should say “Vaccination Clinic” or the sender should have “@vdh.virginia.gov” in their email address.
• Registering through an email that has been forwarded to you can result in appointment cancelations for all parties.

Please continue to visit https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/covid-19-vaccine/ for details and to determine when you are eligible to receive the vaccine.

Stop the Spread HELPline
If students and their families have questions and can’t readily find the answers in our FAQs, call the Stop the Spread HELPline, which is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The toll-free number is 888-886-3131. And don’t forget, many of your questions can be answered here. Call center agents also will be answering questions sent to covid19@jmu.edu, and you can submit questions via a form on the Stop the Spread site. Please note, the HELPline is not for reporting noncompliance with health guidance and the Stop the Spread Agreement signed by all students. Please use the LiveSafe app, which goes directly to the JMU Public Safety dispatch.

Stay safe and download the COVIDWISE app!