Feb. 7 testing update from the Protect Purdue team
Protect Purdue medical experts and advisors are seeing hopeful signs that Omicron may have crested in in areas of the U.S., other countries and in our community. At the same time, we continue to emphasize the three primary steps at the heart of Protect Purdue to keep our community safe: Mask Up. Get Vaccinated and Boosted. Stay Home If You Are Sick.
Because of your ongoing efforts to live by and adhere to our Protect Purdue Pledge and protocols, we are restarting regular surveillance testing for COVID-19 during the week of Feb. 7 for Purdue students and employees on our West Lafayette campus. Boilermakers continue to have the option to get fully vaccinated and submit valid proof or participate in regular surveillance testing.
Resuming this step reflects the progress in our collective commitment to operate as safely, openly and actively as any university in the country for the Spring 2022 semester while remaining diligent in monitoring the science and local conditions to ensure the health and well-being of our Purdue campus and community.
Additionally, it’s indicative of your cooperation with the temporary shift made two weeks ago to a targeted surveillance testing approach for those vaccinated and unvaccinated on campus. This proactive move has been instrumental in helping identify campus locations where the potential spread of infection was possible and case numbers could spike because of the virulent Omicron strain.
Our approach to testing symptomatic individuals, regardless of vaccination status, remains unchanged.
Protect Purdue’s data-driven strategy has informed every step of our guidance the past two years. And going forward, this approach remains an essential tool in helping maximize campus resources while effectively and efficiently managing the spread of COVID-19 in our community — and, in this current case, the Omicron surge.
The latest medical evidence continues to suggest that the Omicron variant generally causes milder symptoms and cases. According to our Protect Purdue Health Center data, 98% of students and employees infected by COVID-19 since the start of 2022 have reported experiencing no symptoms or a very mild/mild case, and 2% have reported a moderate case.
Two years into this pandemic, the Purdue campus remains the safest place to be in our community and perhaps anywhere throughout Indiana.
To do your part in helping Protect Purdue, we remind our students, faculty and staff to continue wearing a mask in all indoor spaces, regardless of vaccination status.
And we encourage all Boilermakers to get vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19 by scheduling an appointment online. Purdue’s COVID-19 vaccine clinic is open 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and is located on the northwest side of the Co-Rec.
Thank you again for your continued efforts to protect yourself, others and the Purdue community.
Sincerely,
The Protect Purdue Implementation Team