Dear Brown Community Members,

Earlier this week, we announced modifications to the campus indoor mask wearing requirements for a number of different types of activities. This is step one in what we hope will be a continued effort to reduce the protective measures that remain in place on campus, provided the public health situation continues to improve. While we recognize and understand the fatigue around mask wearing and we know that some members of the community would like to see further loosening of those restrictions, we have found over the past two years that an incremental approach to making changes has worked well for preserving the health and safety of the Brown community.

We are aware of the recently updated CDC guidance regarding mask wearing and are continuously assessing opportunities to reduce public health restrictions on campus even further. Throughout the pandemic, we have paid close attention to guidance from CDC and RIDOH but at times adopt more restrictive policies than they recommend based on what we think is best for health and safety at Brown and the conditions on and around campus. One example is the amount of routine COVID-19 testing we have done of asymptomatic and, over the past year, vaccinated people, which far exceeded any recommendations but was critical to keeping community members safe and the University open. We’ll continue to rely on the advice of the health and medicine experts we consult and as soon as we can take the next steps for reducing mask wearing requirements, we’ll update our protocols once again.

As we have reported in these weekly updates, since the beginning of this semester we have had nearly 1,000 positive cases reported by students. While we are encouraged that the numbers are declining from a peak of 361 the first week of February, the cases we are seeing each week remain greater than at any other point in the pandemic. Accordingly, we are not yet ready to lift mask wearing requirements in classes, laboratories, offices or other indoor settings. We will continue to monitor conditions closely and make further changes as soon as it is prudent to do so.

As of this week, 99% of all undergraduate, graduate and medical students have documented their compliance with Brown’s COVID-19 booster requirement. The compliance rate for employees is currently 91%, which is also very high, although we know that many faculty and staff have not yet uploaded their booster cards to Workday. If you have received your booster and have not yet submitted your booster vaccination record to Workday, please do so immediately. Information on how to do so can be found on the Verify Your Vaccination page of the Healthy Brown website:

https://healthy.brown.edu/vaccinations/verify

In regard to test results reported to the University over the last week: From Thursday, Feb. 24, through Wednesday, March 2, 80 students reported positive test results (down 8 from a total of 88 last week). Approximately 51 students are currently in isolation in on-campus or designated isolation housing off-campus (note that the number of students who report positive tests results and the number in isolation will not be the same each week, as students may isolate in their off-campus apartments or at home if they live nearby, and the isolation numbers fluctuate as students begin and end their respective isolation periods). In the same timeframe, 9 employees reported testing positive (up 3 from last week). We also monitor employee absences due to COVID-19 — which can be for a range of reasons, including care of a child or family member or quarantine due to a known exposure — and the number of such absences for the most recent full work week was 5. It is important to note that these numbers represent employee absences reported to University Human Resources and do not necessarily reflect all of the disruptions currently impacting faculty and staff due to K-12 school closures and remote learning, care for a family member, or other challenges to daily routines.

Members of the Brown community can continue to pick-up two (2) rapid antigen tests each week through spring recess (the week of Monday, March 28). We will assess public health conditions at that time and make a determination about further availability. Through Wednesday, March 2, we have distributed 35,885 test kits. Operating hours for the test kit pick-up sites can be found on the testing page of the Healthy Brown website:

https://healthy.brown.edu/testing-tracing/test-kit-pick-sites

If you are visiting the test pick-up sites for additional tests and you have already taken a pack of ten (10) KN95 masks, please leave the masks for others. The bag of masks you have already received is sufficient for most people for about a month.

As previously communicated, rapid antigen tests are becoming increasingly available from the federal government supply as well. Insurance companies are now reimbursing the costs of tests, and tests will be available in the coming weeks at pharmacies and other locations with no out-of-pocket expense. Tests can also be ordered directly at https://www.covidtests.gov/. We encourage all members of the community to take advantage of these resources. Information for employees regarding options through participating insurance carriers can be found on the University Human Resources benefits page:

https://www.brown.edu/about/administration/human-resources/benefits

And information for students participating in the student health insurance plan can be found on the United Healthcare Student Resources website (see the Feb. 11, 2022, updated titled “COVID-19 Home Test Member Reimbursement):

https://www.uhcsr.com/news-main

Please feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns. For questions or support regarding the testing program, students can contact the student testing support team (studenttesting@brown.edu), and faculty and staff can contact the employee testing support team (employeetestinguhr@brown.edu).

Sincerely,

Russell C. Carey
Executive Vice President, Planning and Policy