ELMIRA, N.Y. (WETM) – After a recent spike in COVID-19 cases at Elmira College, Charles Lindsay, President of Elmira College is speaking out.
“We are going to try to go back to in-person classes. Originally we said we were going to go online for two weeks. Next week is the second week. I think we are going to have to extend that, and that’s because we are going to need more time to get a plan for going back to in-person classes approved by the county,” said President of Elmira College, Charles Lindsay.
Elmira College’s COVID-19 dashboard now lists 113 active COVID-19 cases listed among its student population.
“We are going to require students to get tested before they come back to campus, but we want to go back to in-person classes because the students are asking for it. They were upset and disappointed when we went online, so we want to make that commitment to try to come back before the end of October,” said Lindsay.
The dashboard also lists 84 of the 150 quarantine beds are available.
According to Elmira College, those that have tested positive will either isolate in a designated location on campus or at an off-campus location with medical guidance provided by the Clarke Health Center and/or their health care professional until they recover.
The Chemung County Health Department is providing contact tracing and anyone who has come into close contact with the infected persons has been or will be notified and advised on the appropriate health and safety protocols. Notifications will be made to College members of possible exposures if the person testing positive was on campus while infectious. All contacts deemed at risk of exposure will be required to self-quarantine for 14 days.