Circuit Breaker Ends – But Read the Entire Message!

04 April 2022

Dear Students and Campus Community,

As promised, the Operations Committee met today to consider current campus COVID-related protocols after Project Week. By all accounts that I’ve heard, Project Week was a success and certainly every student I’ve encountered is refreshed, energized and ready to tackle the remaining weeks of the spring term.

Now on to more good news. Morgan reported at today’s meeting that, as of this writing, we have no students in isolation, no active COVID student cases and no indication that any students returning from Project Week activities are showing symptoms. Thank you all.

With this in mind, and after considerable discussion this afternoon, the committee, including College Assembly student representatives, has agreed to return to pre-circuit breaker protocols, with some minor caveats. As of tomorrow (Tuesday) morning, after breakfast taken in House dayrooms, the following will be in effect:

• Students may go off campus as per normal rules including mandatory use of the REACH boarding sign in/out app and procedures and returning to campus by 10:30 pm. Please respect our neighbours by exercising distancing and individual decisions to mask.
• Students will have full access to all campus buildings except for the Administration building which remains by appointment only.
• Students must continue to wear masks in classrooms and in the queue for dining room meals. This will be reviewed by the Operations Committee in approximately two weeks.
• Full student access to the gym/fitness centre and pool is restored.
• House dayrooms will be reopened to students from other Houses. The College Assembly reserves the right to review this with the student community.
• After tomorrow’s breakfast, all meal service will resume in the dining hall with normal mealtimes in effect — Breakfast – 7-8:15 am | Lunch – 12:30-1:20 pm |Dinner – 5:30-6:30 pm | Weekend brunch – 11 am-1 pm.
• CAS activities can proceed this week as per normal, even if they are off campus and involve an outside instructor. Masks should be worn for indoor CAS activities, no mask requirement for outdoor CAS activities.
• Indoor social gatherings and events can return to full pre-COVID occupancy levels. Masks should be worn for these events and activities.
• Students who feel ill or exhibit any COVID-like symptoms should report to the Health Centre as soon as possible.
• Houseparents and residents are welcome to invite students into their homes as per their individual comfort levels. All students and adults should continue to respect these individual decisions.
• The campus will remain open only to authorized visitors who comply with campus vaccination and COVID protocols.
• The mandatory adult daily online COVID health survey will be discontinued.
• Everyone on campus must continue to practice individual basic infection control steps: Practice personal hygiene, wash hands frequently, continue to respect personal space, monitor personal health and, if you feel ill, do not come onto campus and advise your supervisor of your status.

Now, a few reminders and cautions:

• Morgan reminded everyone that, should the number of positive cases in students begins to rise and reaches about 8 to 10 cases, any or all safety measures and protocols may be reimposed.
• Omicron subvariant, known as BA.2, continues to be increasingly prevalent locally and worldwide and remains highly transmissible. While symptoms appear to be less severe for most people, and while the vast majority in British Columbia are vaccinated, we need to continue to be vigilant to minimize the impact of another outbreak on campus.
• It bears repeating: Everyone on campus must continue to practice individual basic infection control steps: Practice personal hygiene, wash hands frequently, continue to respect personal space, monitor personal health and, if you feel ill, do not come onto campus and advise your supervisor of your status.

Believe it or not, we are now into the home stretch of the spring term. Second-year exams start in just a few weeks and the end-of-year pressures will be balanced by the improving weather and longer days. I want to thank students, and adults and campus families, for adhering to our tough but necessary circuit breaker protocols that allowed for a successful Project Week and contributed mightily to our ability to relax campus protocols. Keep up the good work and let’s see this through!

Yours sincerely,

Craig Davis
Head of College

Read more

16 Mar – Covid Update from Campus
08 Mar – Campus Update
16 Feb – Public Health Protocols Loosening in BC
10 Feb – Longer Days and Expanded Campus Boundaries
20 Jan – Cautious, But Optimistic
14 Jan – Covid Update: The Spring Term is Underway
06 Jan – Update 3 Return to Classes for the Spring Term