Syracuse University has released a template of its coronavirus dashboard and will begin updating the website Tuesday. 

The dashboard tracks the number of new COVID-19 cases among students and employees, as well as the number of active cases, recoveries and tests administered on campus.

The university will release the data from students self-quarantining on campus this Tuesday, said Mike Haynie, vice chancellor for strategic initiatives and innovation, during a virtual forum Friday. 

University officials during the forum also provided updates on class scheduling, contact tracing and other COVID-19 prevention measures for fall 2020. 

Around 24% of all course sections will be fully online this semester, said Chris Johnson, associate provost for academic affairs. About 83% of all students have at least half of their coursework in-person, he said.

“We do anticipate that most students will have a significant element of in-person instruction this fall,” Johnson said. 

SU is also expanding its wastewater surveillance program to include off-campus housing, said Ramesh Raina,  interim vice president for research, during the forum. The university previously announced it would test the wastewater from residential and academic facilities twice each week for traces of COVID-19. 

The university has partnered with the city of Syracuse to expand wastewater testing to surrounding neighborhoods, Raina said.

“Wastewater surveillance is really meant to be an early warning system to tell us if there is the presence of virus in any of those facilities,” Haynie said. “For us to be successful, we have to be able to detect and track and trace as quickly as possible instances of COVID infection on our campus.”

SU’s grab-and-go dining options for the fall semester will each cost one meal swipe, said Dean of Students Marianne Thomson. The university is working to put up signage to promote social distancing in dining halls, she said.

The university will install tents on the Quad by Aug. 17 to function as classrooms, Johnson said. The tents will remain standing through Oct. 16 and accommodate 26 to 32 individuals while social distancing, he said.

SU will collaborate with neighboring universities, including SUNY-ESF and LeMoyne College, in its COVID-19 response, Haynie said. The three institutions met with Onondaga County Health Commissioner Indu Gupta on Thursday to discuss public health protocols, he said.

“We’re going to work together in a lot of ways as if we’re one large institution,” Haynie said. “We all recognize collectively how much is at stake.”

The university’s contact tracing team is “up and running,” said Joe Hernon, director of emergency management and business continuity. SU’s contact tracing program will require those who have been in close contact with anyone who contracts the virus to move to quarantine housing, he said. The university defines close contacts as those who have been within six feet of an infected person for more than 15 minutes. 

“Contact tracing is really about building a relationship with the person that is potentially exposed, to learn more, so we can help them and find out where they’ve been,” Hernon said. “The faster we can find out potential exposures, or whether it’s a disconnect in communication about that exposure, we can track it down, isolate it, treat it.”

Published on August 7, 2020 at 3:50 pm

Contact Mira: mlberenb@syr.edu