Emory University will shift from modified yellow to an orange operating status effective immediately, according to a Dec. 28 email announcement from Executive Director for COVID-19 Response and Recovery Amir St. Clair.
This follows Emory’s announcement earlier today that spring classes will operate in an online format for the first three weeks of the semester.
Under the new operating condition, all non-essential events and gatherings must be postponed or moved to a virtual setting. Non-academic gatherings will have a maximum capacity of 25 individuals.
All students returning to campus must complete an attestation form indicating that they received a negative PCR test 48 hours or a negative antigen test, including at-home tests, 24 hours before arrival to campus. The University does not require any asymptomatic COVID-19 testing beyond the initial test.
“Students who return to campus before in-person classes resume should prepare for a greatly reduced on-campus experience with limited activities, few co-curricular events, modified grab-and-go dining, and new changes to isolation and quarantine protocols,” St. Clair wrote.
Indoor dining is also prohibited, with main dining halls switching to a grab-and-go model, the email stated. Dining is scheduled to return to normal conditions on Jan. 31.
Masks will continue to be required indoors and are “strongly encouraged” when outside in groups.
Emory Conference Center Hotel will remain an isolation location for symptomatic or high-risk on-campus students. Positive students with mild or no symptoms will follow new “isolate-in-place” protocols. In accordance with the recently updated Center for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, the isolation period will be reduced to five days for asymptomatic individuals.
