Update on COVID cases

December 3, 2021

We have communicated all semester the importance of doing your part to keep our law school community safe and we do thank everyone for all of your efforts. We also were aware of the possibility of increased transmission as our community returned home with family and friends for the Thanksgiving break. Unfortunately, we have now had 5 individuals who have tested positive since the break which is a significant increase for the law school. It is important to note that none of these individuals were on campus since the break.

We are closely monitoring these cases and doing all necessary tracking and tracing to determine if further action is required. A reminder that any individual who has been in close contact with a COVID-positive person, is required to isolate until cleared with a negative test. This test should be done 5-7 days after exposure for vaccinated individuals and 3-5 days for unvaccinated individuals. This means you are not to come to campus until you have been cleared to do so.

The Public Health and Safety Team is monitoring the continued high COVID transmission rates in Albany and surrounding counties and we continue to get medical and public health advice from our experts on all matters related to COVID including the new Omicron variant which has now been detected in New York State.

The law school continues to be transparent in our reporting of all cases in our community and regularly post our new cases and positivity rate on the COVID Dashboard at www.albanylaw.edu/covid19.  In addition, the law school continues its regular surveillance testing with our partners at Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and Maria College.

This is again a reminder that we must continue to wear masks in the classroom, when sitting with others in the library, and in other public areas. You may remove your mask to eat, but food should only be consumed in the cafeteria and not in hallways, classrooms or the library. 

We must remain vigilant as we approach the end of the semester. We understand that this is a particularly stressful time for everyone and the additional responsibility of maintaining our COVID protocols can add to that stress. 

Our current COVID policies including those regarding missing final exams are found on our COVID-19 webpage.

Thank you again for working to keep our community safe.

— Public Health and Safety Team