Vermont announced Tuesday mandatory guidance and health protocols for colleges and universities to follow — including a health safety contract for staff and students to sign — as they reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The guidance, developed by a task force, includes quarantines for students traveling from certain areas of the country, testing of all students and staff at the start of the school year, and the requirement that students, faculty and staff wear face coverings in the presence of others in public. The density of classrooms and dining halls must also be reduced.
“The state of Vermont aims to make Vermont the safest place to go to college,” said former Norwich University President Richard Schneider, who chairs the task force.
The academic calendar will likely change with students going home at Thanksgiving and returning later in the spring, he said.
“Because we don’t want them traveling for a week and then coming back and then we’re starting all over again with everybody being quarantined again,” he said.
In other coronavirus developments:
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THE NUMBERS
Vermont reported three new cases of the coronavirus on Tuesday for a total of 1,254 cases so far. The number of total deaths remained at 56. A total of 1,039 people have recovered from COVID-19, according to the Health Department.
For most people, the virus causes mild or moderate symptoms. For some, especially older adults and the infirm, it can cause more severe illness and can lead to death.
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