Coronavirus: DeSales Taskforce Update: March 11, 2020, 11 AM

No DeSales University community member has been diagnosed with COVID-19.

Note: this announcement no longer contains the most recent information. Please refer to the most recent updates at desales.edu/COVID-19

DeSales University traditional day students began Spring Break Saturday, March 7 through March 14.  As the conclusion of Spring Break approaches, we are finalizing a plan to address questions about on-campus classes, activities, and events. 

Please remain alert to receive updates on DeSales University’s dedicated web page to learn developing updates and information on our response to coronavirus: desales.edu/coronavirus-updates. 

DeSales University is following the formal directions of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  The CDC has asked institutes of higher education to follow the specific instructions of their state and local health authorities.  To date, directions and guidelines related to the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania focus on the normal precautions, which are outlined below. 

For any member of the DeSales University Community, if you feel sick with a fever or cough, experience difficulty breathing, or have been in close contact with a person known to have COVID-19, or if you live in or have recently traveled from an area with ongoing spread of COVID-19, please exercise normal precautions and contact your healthcare provider.  Your healthcare professional will work with your state’s public health department and CDC to determine if you need to be tested for COVID-19.

DeSales University vigorously maintains its commitment to ensure the safety of all members of the campus community.  To this end, we have enacted the following measures while monitoring daily updates from the aforementioned national and regional health sources.

• Postponing Spring Break travel: Due to the CDC’s travel recommendations for higher education, all university sponsored international trips were cancelled over Spring Break. We are exploring options for alternative travel times for these trips.
• Engaging independent travelers: Students who have traveled internationally in the past three months on non-University-sponsored trips, please check current recommendations and travel advisories regarding Coronavirus, and inform the Office of International Learning of your travel plans by contacting Brian MacDonald, extension 1510.
• Please remain alert for updates on the dedicated coronavirus web page at desales.edu/coronavirus-updates.
• Enacting the Emergency Operations Plan, Pandemic Response Protocol: Our procedures are in place to deal with any potential viral exposure or infection on our campus.  Again, as reported above, there are no known cases of COVID-19 at DeSales University or in neighboring Lehigh County.
• Enacting procedures to monitor reports from ill students, faculty and staff for potential symptoms and patterns of COVID-19: All community members exposed to or infected with COVID-19 are to contact Dennis Rasley, director of emergency services, 610-282-1100, ext. 1513, or at dennis.rasley@desales.edu.
• Educating the campus community about symptoms and risk factors, while promoting ways to stay healthy: Please consult updates on the dedicated coronavirus web page at desales.edu/coronavirus-updates.
• Preparing for faculty to teach online if our campus community becomes impacted by the virus.
• Informing athletes returning from Spring Break travel: At the direction of Scott Coval, director of athletics, team coaches will inform student athletes of specific instructions.

We encourage you to learn about coronavirus and COVID-19 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and to follow guidelines from the PA Department of Health.

If you have questions, please contact Dennis Rasley, Director of Emergency Services, extension 1513 or the Health and Wellness Center, extension 1776.

We ask you to join us in prayer for those whose health or life are significantly impacted by this virus.