{"id":7829,"date":"2020-11-06T14:51:54","date_gmt":"2020-11-06T19:51:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/dos\/?p=7829"},"modified":"2024-04-11T09:08:13","modified_gmt":"2024-04-11T13:08:13","slug":"updated-massachusetts-public-health-and-covid-19-safety-protocols","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/dos\/2020\/11\/06\/updated-massachusetts-public-health-and-covid-19-safety-protocols\/","title":{"rendered":"Updated Massachusetts Public Health and COVID-19 Safety Protocols"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>The following was sent to all students on November 6, 2020. P<i>lease note the content on these pages and files is no longer being updated and may be out of date.<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/RJ-w6m5J8_c\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Friends:<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve got to do better.<\/p>\n<p>I am drawing your attention to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/healthway\/community-dashboard\/\">the increasing number of Boston University students testing positive<\/a>\u00a0for COVID-19. The University\u2019s public health and math modelers \u2013 who have been on point, thus far \u2013 have made it clear that our informal gatherings, get-togethers, and socializing \u2013 even the small ones \u2013 with friends and loved ones are contributing to the spread of the virus and are dangerous. We know that we are not wearing our masks and not staying sufficiently physically apart when getting together.\u00a0The prevalence of the virus within Massachusetts is increasing and we will not get a pass just because we\u2019re off-campus and just because we think we\u2019re under the designated numbers of people in a gathering. It\u2019s simple. We cannot do whatever we want. We cannot come together in groups \u2013 large or small \u2013 without masks and the ability to distance our bodies from each other.<\/p>\n<p>We have to do better.<\/p>\n<p>As I\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/dos\/2020\/11\/03\/covid-19-compliance-november-2-2020\/\">discussed earlier this week<\/a>, Massachusetts has seen a significant increase in people under the age of 30 testing positive for COVID-19. Accordingly,\u00a0Massachusetts\u00a0Governor Baker\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mass.gov\/news\/baker-polito-administration-announces-targeted-measures-to-curb-rising-covid-19-cases\">has announced<\/a>\u00a0several public health and COVID-19 safety protocols that I want to draw your attention to, and provide clarity as it relates to us, here, at Boston University.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Stay At Home Advisory:\u00a0<\/strong>The Governor announced that the Department of Public Health has issued a revised\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mass.gov%2Fnews%2Fstay-at-home-advisory&amp;data=04%7C01%7CJ.Tobin%40northeastern.edu%7Cea6da49e88e149c4fec708d881c42c58%7Ca8eec281aaa34daeac9b9a398b9215e7%7C0%7C0%7C637402026859455472%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&amp;sdata=yc0UEvJ4acPttf1CEivSHb1r07%2FIZIs8JwkccGaK1rQ%3D&amp;reserved=0\">Stay at Home Advisory<\/a>\u00a0that urges residents to stay home between 10PM and 5AM. The Advisory specifically allows residents to \u201cleave home to go to school or work.\u201d Boston University strongly encourages students to use their best efforts to comply with the DPH Advisory. Please stay home between 10PM and 5AM except to go to work or school, to return home from work or school, or to get essential needs like emergency medical care or go to the grocery store, pharmacy, pick up take-out food or go outside to get fresh air (practicing social distancing and other precautions). Going to or from work or school may include classrooms, libraries, labs and other locations on campus that are open.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Gathering Limits:<\/strong>\u00a0The\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mass.gov%2Fdoc%2Fcovid-19-order-54%2Fdownload&amp;data=04%7C01%7CJ.Tobin%40northeastern.edu%7Cea6da49e88e149c4fec708d881c42c58%7Ca8eec281aaa34daeac9b9a398b9215e7%7C0%7C0%7C637402026859485452%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&amp;sdata=j06qloW0cK7LEP5NvnZroTFOf0yp%2Fio%2BfoLbUANFxpQ%3D&amp;reserved=0\">revised order<\/a>\u00a0regulating gatherings requires colleges to follow the state\u2019s latest events guidance. As\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/articles\/2020\/smaller-gathering-limits-and-penalties-for-violations-announced-by-university\/\">announced earlier this week<\/a>, the University has imposed stricter restrictions. Below are the governor\u2019s new gathering limits summarized.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Private Residences:\n<ul>\n<li>limit of 10 for indoor gatherings<\/li>\n<li>limit of 25 for outdoor gatherings<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Event Venues and Public Settings:\n<ul>\n<li>limit of 25 for indoor gatherings<\/li>\n<li>limit of 50 for outdoor gatherings<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>These limits do not apply to classroom instruction and other gatherings associated with coursework.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>The wearing of masks is now mandatory in public.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>The Fitness and Recreation Center (FitRec):<\/strong>\u00a0The new COVID-19 orders from Massachusetts regarding hours of operation will not impact informal recreation reservations at FitRec (as we are currently opening at 7 am and closing at 6:30 pm). However, the early closure has required us to reschedule and\/or cancel Club Sport practices to operate within the new guidelines. In regard to other new orders on wearing proper face coverings at all times and gathering sizes, BU FitRec is also currently operating within these guidelines.<\/p>\n<p><strong>BU Dining:\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0The new COVID-19 orders require no change in the hours of operation in the residential dining halls or retail locations on campus.\u00a0All campus retail locations either close before 9:30 pm or offer take-out service only through the Campus GrubHub App.\u00a0Effective immediately, the Late Nite Caf\u00e9s at the West Campus and Warren Towers dining halls have moved to take-out service only.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve heard someone say that cures for the pandemic in this country are unity and agreed actions with a common interest.\u00a0What we do outside of our classes, labs, and public spaces in our homes and with our friends and loved ones matter. If we want to continue to share in this in-person, Boston experience, we must do better, and we can do better. So, for this common interest and mutual support, care enough about someone else to adopt these public health practices \u2013 to curtail your gathering and adjust your personal habits \u2013 to ensure your health, my health, and the health of those around us.<\/p>\n<p>We can and must do this,<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Kenneth Elmore<\/p>\n<p>Associate Provost and Dean of Students<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The following was sent to all students on November 6, 2020. Please note the content on these pages and files is no longer being updated and may be out of date. Friends: We\u2019ve got to do better. I am drawing your attention to\u00a0the increasing number of Boston University students testing positive\u00a0for COVID-19. The University\u2019s public [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3113,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3766],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/dos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7829"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/dos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/dos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/dos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3113"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/dos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7829"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/dos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7829\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10703,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/dos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7829\/revisions\/10703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/dos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/dos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/dos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}