The third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic is already on its way in the United States as the country surpasses 11 million cases nationwide. With the colder weather worsening the situation, many state governments have chosen to shut down colleges and schools prematurely to protect both staff and students. Although NYU has issued no statements related to an early closure, they sent out several emails regarding precautions they will take as Thanksgiving break approaches.
In an email sent out by NYU’s COVID Response Team leader Dr. Carlo Ciotoli last week, several key dates and recommendations are noted regarding testing and traveling.
Students traveling outside New York’s five contiguous states or internationally are recommended not to return to campus until the spring semester. If a student does decide to travel to return to campus, there is a mandatory fourteen-day quarantine period they have to adhere to. Students can bypass this two-week quarantine if they return to campus and immediately go through two rounds of testing and get approval from the COVID Responsive team. Alternatively, the school suggests canceling any Thanksgiving travels to celebrate virtually or with one’s roommates instead.
Besides this travel advisory, the university also enforces school-wide testing requirements on top of the biweekly saliva tests required of students who have daily access to academic buildings. Every student and employee must complete a round of saliva tests the week before (Nov. 16-20) and after (Nov. 30- Dec. 4) Thanksgiving break at the allocated testing sites.
Students should also be prepared to receive a school survey in the upcoming days regarding student-specific travel plans.