Dear Families of Brown Students,

We are writing to share information provided to your student regarding Brown University’s response and preparedness for 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19). We sent this message over the weekend to all students, staff and faculty. Brown takes the care of members of our community very seriously, and we continue to share guidance and resources regarding safeguarding personal health, travel (including Brown’s policies on high-risk and restricted travel), and preparations to ensure continuity of academic operations. 

It’s important to note that there are no presumptive or confirmed cases of COVID-19 on the Brown campus. A presumptive case is one that has tested positive by the Rhode Island Department of Health, and a confirmed case is one that has subsequently tested positive by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). While this is an ever-changing situation, no significant risks to the Brown community in Rhode Island have been identified, and the risk of COVID-19 in our area remains low. 

As we shared with the campus community Saturday afternoon, the medical doctors who lead the University’s health services are in constant and continuous communication with the Rhode Island Department of Health. If there are any changes in medical and public health guidance, we will communicate that to the campus and take all necessary steps.  

We have established a webpage to share up-to-date information about Brown’s interventions to support the health and wellbeing of our campus community, and we will post to this site any status updates, including any major effects on programs and operations, should they occur. We ask all families to rely on this website as an ongoing resource. New updates will be posted regularly to the website moving forward.

For more information, visit https://www.brown.edu/covid. 

Sincerely,

Eric Estes, Vice President for Campus Life
Rashid Zia, Dean of the College