Otero Junior College issued the following announcement on Nov. 13.
Otero Junior College (OJC) has been working closely with the Otero County Health Department (OCHD) in response to COVID-19 cases on the OJC campus. Because two or more positive cases within a 14-day period is considered an outbreak, OJC will now be listed as an outbreak site. Since the beginning of the pandemic, OJC has had a total of 26 positive cases, however, there are only a handful of active cases. These linked cases have resulted in quarantining two athletic programs.
OJC has taken every precaution to limit further exposure to other students, faculty and staff and is confident that the recovery plans and protocols that were put into place last spring have been essential to this limitation. Affected individuals have been directed to quarantine or isolate. Those that have come into close contact with these individuals have been notified and have been provided guidance and information on next steps. OJC officials have been in contact with those that have received positive test results, and know that at this time none have been severe cases or have required hospitalization.
A few weeks ago OJC made the decision to have most courses finish out the semester remotely as of Nov. 3. Those programs that remain face-to-face have been, and will continue to, take precautions and follow all of the current protocols and guidance. At this time, the residence halls remain open to those students who have chosen to remain on campus, however, this number has dropped to less than 35 students from the original 270 at the beginning of the Fall Semester.
OJC continues to take action to prevent spread as much as possible with the use of cohort groups among students and staff, wearing face coverings and encouraging social distancing. Nearly all campus offices are staffed at 25% and meetings are being held virtually rather than in person. The custodial staff have been extremely diligent in their cleaning frequency and methods.
OJC would like to thank the OCHD for their collaboration and support to help mitigate this unprecedented situation. OJC’s goal remains to provide students with a quality education, while foremost keeping the health of the students, faculty and staff its top priority.
Original source can be found here.
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