September 16 Message from President Tim Hall

To continue to update the College community on the latest developments about COVID-19 at Mercy, I will be sharing a regular email called COVID-19 Communications from President Hall.

In this first edition, I want to say how happy I am to have seen students, faculty and staff on our campuses this past week. While it was quieter than normal in early September, it felt good to start returning somewhat to our regular routine. Watch this video to see how the start of the fall term is going on campus. Each member of this community plays a vital role in ensuring that we can all safely return to our campuses this fall. Please remember to adhere to the MavCare Pledge, which requires social distancing and wearing a mask – doing so shows respect for your fellow Mavs.

As Kevin Joyce, Vice President of Student Affairs, communicated on September 9, out of an abundance of caution, Mercy proactively started to test all residential students and residential life staff who did not have to quarantine upon arrival at Mercy, based on the New York Travel Advisory. With 95% of the test results back, we were able to identify seven positive cases, which was 1.7% of those tested. We swiftly provided these individuals with private accommodations, meals, health and safety resources, and support to continue classes virtually. We are pleased these individuals are receiving the proper care and wish them a speedy recovery. Please respect the privacy of anyone who tests positive to allow them to focus on their health.

If we have reason to believe you have been in close contact with a confirmed case, you will be contacted by Mercy and by the local department of health who is also conducting contact tracing. The College will conduct ongoing surveillance testing of a sample of residential students and staff in the residence halls throughout the fall. To keep our community informed, the College has created a dashboard on the OnCampus Plus reopening website to report positive cases on our campuses. To read recent Mercy communications on COVID-19 click here and for more information click here for our Frequently Asked Questions.

I look forward to seeing many of you in the coming weeks and wish you a successful fall term. Stay safe.