Campus Community —
On May 11, 2023, our nation marked an end to the federal public health emergency declaration regarding COVID-19. As a community, we managed the complex environment created by the pandemic and pulled together to weather the health crisis since 2020. Through all this, our COVID-19 Task Force has been instrumental in guiding us through the changing policies and protocols and managing the needed resources to keep the Chapman community healthy and support those impacted.
Even as the public health emergency declaration ends, our Task Force remains in place and continues to monitor and react to the changes in COVID-19. The changes as of the May 11 end to the Public Health Declaration are as follows:
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- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Community Levels we used to determine campus protocols are no longer in place.
- Test positivity and case counts will no longer be consistently reported by public health, but emergency room, hospitalization and the proportion of deaths caused by COVID-19 will continue to be reported.
- Real-time systems for reporting vaccination coverage will slowly be turned off.
- Federal funding for free COVID-19 at-home tests is ending. When the current supply is gone, free tests will no longer be available. You may order until the inventory is gone. Additionally, the Chapman Student Health Center will have at-home tests available for the campus community.
- Paxlovid medication will only remain free while free supplies last; then insurers will decide on coverage.
While Orange County has low community spread, we remain diligent in monitoring additional variants as they begin to gain traction around the world. We are currently tracking the spread of XBB.1.16, commonly referred to as Arcturus, as the proportion of that variant causing disease begins to slowly grow. We remain prepared to manage an increase in cases on our campuses if that were to happen. We also are reviewing our policies and processes to ensure we remain compliant with any local, state or federal guidance.
As always, I want to remind you that we must all focus on individual responsibility to manage the spread of COVID-19 within our campuses. Please remember our basic protocols for keeping our community healthy.
