Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff Members, 

In an effort to keep you informed about our latest COVID-19 mitigation efforts, we are writing to share a brief update.

Vaccination Rates
We’re pleased to share that campus vaccination rates continue to climb. At this point, nearly 99% of employees working on campus are fully vaccinated against COVID-19; a handful of individuals are awaiting their second shot. Fewer than 10 employees (0.8%) have been approved for medical or religious exemptions.

More than 96% of our students are fully vaccinated. We expect that number to increase to more than 99% by mid-October; fewer than 0.5% of students have been approved for medical or religious exemptions.

Testing
Since resuming regular testing of students last week, we’ve conducted 1,708 student tests, and we’ve received three positive results, with one additional positive result reported from an external test. We resumed regular testing of employees this week. So far, we’ve received 467 employee test results, with three positive cases. Test results are updated regularly on our COVID-19 test results dashboard.

Campus Visitors 
This summer, we announced our intentions to reopen campus to visitors on Monday, Sept. 20. We selected this date to coincide with the date by which our campus community would be practically fully vaccinated. Given our high vaccination rates, our low positivity rate on campus, and, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a decrease in the average number of cases in and around Delaware County, we are moving forward with reopening campus facilities to visitors on Monday. This includes prospective students and families, community members attending performances and athletic events, and other guests. All visitors are required to remain masked while indoors and are expected to be fully vaccinated. Guests will have access to certain campus facilities, such as Parrish Hall, that are normally unlocked during the day but have been restricted to OneCard access due to COVID-19 protocols. However, we strongly encourage you to continue carrying your OneCard at all times, as some buildings may remain locked. For information on your building access, you can visit the OneCard Center in MySwarthmore.

Please note that we continue to prohibit overnight guests on campus. In addition, due to the nature of the activity that occurs inside the Matchbox fitness center, it remains restricted to current students, faculty, and staff members only. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Guidelines for Large Gatherings
We are finalizing updates to our policy around large indoor and outdoor gatherings on campus, and we expect to share those details next week. 

Thank you for your ongoing commitment to keeping each other and yourselves healthy and safe. If you have questions about our current COVID-19 guidelines, please visit the COVID-19 information page, or email covid19@swarthmore.edu. 

Sincerely, 

Members of the COVID-19 Planning Group