On June 16, New York State issued broad guidance that lifted many of the statewide COVID-19 restrictions in place during the pandemic. Based on this news and much improved COVID-19 conditions in the University community and locally, University leaders are now removing some of the COVID-related requirements on many parts of our campuses, effective immediately.
Broadly, the University is reopening operations and removing certain COVID-19 protocols (mask-wearing, social distancing, etc.) where appropriate and as permitted by New York State. However, in specific spaces, including health care, nursing homes, fairs and festivals, and public transportation, the University will continue to adhere to the industry-targeted guidelines still in effect.
The entire Medical Center campus and its offsite locations will continue with current masking and physical distancing guidelines until the logistics between patient care areas and non-patient care areas can be developed. Look for further communications from the Medical Center shortly, and in the meantime, all individuals, regardless of vaccination status, must continue to wear a surgical mask in clinical health care areas.
Outside of the Medical Center, masks are not required for vaccinated individuals indoors or outdoors; unvaccinated individuals must wear masks indoors. This unmasking guidance applies to faculty, staff, students, and campus visitors. Unmasked individuals should be prepared to produce proof of their vaccine status via a copy of their official immunization card, the UR COVID-19 Vaccine Status app (for students), the New York State Excelsior Pass, an optional vaccination sticker on ID badge (for Medical Center), or other proof of vaccination as implemented by the University upon request.
Read the full guidance, effective until further notice. It will be revisited in the future as circumstances warrant, including if the health risks of COVID-19 change.
In today’s issue:Â
Attend a presentation led by the Medical Center’s Women’s Initiative Supporting Health Clinic on how understanding your trauma affects healing in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic
The Together for Rochester campaign wraps up on June 30; there’s still time to make a gift
Artist Archie Rand discusses his multi-panel painting The 613Â at the Memorial Art Gallery tonight
This past year, the University community has come together to support scholarships, research, faculty projects, and other critical initiatives as part of Together for Rochester, a one-year campaign to make life better. As the 2020–21 academic year comes to a close, there is still time to make a difference for any area of the University that is important to you. Your gift, of any amount, by June 30, will be put to work immediately and will also be counted toward the Together for Rochester campaign. Donations can be made online or through payroll deduction.
Flags will be lowered for Lonnie Slapar
University flags will be lowered Thursday, July 1, for Lonnie Slapar, an instructor in the Department of Dentistry, who died on May 23. Slapar joined the University faculty in 1997.
“I am still putting patients on life support machines because they’re non-vaccinated and becoming very ill. The patients I’m seeing now are either young people, who never believed they would get sick, young pregnant women who were afraid of the vaccine … or we’re still seeing that elderly patient with comorbidities, becoming sick, weak, and landing up on life support machines,” says Celeste Winters, a respiratory therapist at the Medical Center. “So far, I haven’t seen a patient with a COVID vaccination coming in and being placed on a life support machine in the facility.”
Resilience is often thought of as something you have or you don’t, while in fact, it is something that can be learned and developed. Resilience can help you keep moving forward even during the toughest of times, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Read June’s Behavioral Health Partners blog to learn more about ways to build resilience.
Join the Medical Center’s Women’s Initiative Supporting Health Clinic and Exercise Express for a free presentation by Felicia Reed-Watt, associate director for social work and clinical case management at the University Counseling Center, on how understanding, responding to, and recognizing your trauma affects healing in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The virtual talk takes place today, Thursday, June 24, at noon EDT. Find more information here.
Archie Rand’s The 613: From Conception to Creation
Join art historian Samantha Baskind and artist Archie Rand for a discussion about Rand’s thought process when conceptualizing his multi-panel painting The 613, his artistic approach, and critical reaction to his ambitious project. Register to attend the event, taking place today, Thursday, June 24, at 6 p.m. at the Memorial Art Gallery.
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