With classes starting this week, Landmark College’s leadership team wants to keep the surrounding community apprised of our approach to offering residential and online programs to our students. This includes health and safety protocols related to preventing spread of the novel coronavirus.
All students who arrived August 27-30 tested negative for COVID-19 on the day they arrived. These students are now under campus quarantine until they receive results from their second COVID-19 test, scheduled for seven days after the first test was administered. They can leave their rooms, use the common areas in their residence hall, or go outside, and enter the dining hall to get meals to go provided they wear masks. They will attend classes and like all other students on campus right now, are not permitted to enter other residence halls. These students are required to remain on campus until their day-7 test returns. About half of the students on campus have passed their day-7 test and are currently allowed to travel off campus into Putney (masking and distancing requirements are in effect).
The student who tested positive on Sunday, August 23, has completed their isolation protocol and has been allowed to go back to their residence hall and resume going to class. The student remained asymptomatic without any fever.
Eight students and one staff required to quarantine due to having close contact with the positive student were re-tested on August 29. All results were negative. The students have also returned to their residence halls and the employee has returned to work. One additional employee was recently identified as a close contact and remains in quarantine at home.
To date, the College has tested all students, faculty and staff members. A dashboard with COVID-19 testing results is available at https://www.landmark.edu/covid-19-dashboard. It will be updated weekly throughout the semester.
At the end of their quarantine periods, students will be able to travel within Windham County, Vermont and other local areas as determined by the College and using Vermont’s cross-state travel guidance. Any time students are off campus, they are required to observe physical distancing guidelines and wear a face covering regardless of local regulations.
Members of the campus leadership team will continue to meet weekly with the presidents of other independent Vermont colleges throughout the semester. The Health
Services staff meets weekly with the Vermont Department of Health and college health services and leadership teams.
All Landmark College community members are required to self-monitor for symptoms daily and report them using a COVID-specific app, self-isolate if they exhibit symptoms of COVID-19 or are exposed to another individual who tests positive for COVID-19, and comply with all protocols for testing, face-covering, hand-washing, and physical distancing.
Questions about Landmark College policies and protocols related to COVID-19 testing and management should be directed to publichealth@landmark.edu.