Dear Colleagues, 

While the colors in the trees are spectacular and the afternoon in Lewiston was a perfect New England day today, we are seeing temperatures in the 30’s overnight and it’s clear that colder temperatures are approaching and people’s activities are shifting indoors. New COVID-19 infections in Maine have modestly increased, and nationwide they are on the rise.

As we continue to reiterate Wear / Watch / Wash on campus, we need to consider how to plan for November and December holidays, travel, and family gatherings. The CDC has recently released an update on how COVID spreads, as well as an update with considerations for holiday planning. I encourage all employees to review both updates. This guidance can be paired with a recent AP Article where Dr. Deborah Birx of the White House coronavirus task force is quoted as follows: 

“The spread of the virus now is not occurring so much in the workplace as people have taken precautions. It’s happening in homes and social occasions and people gathering and taking their mask off and letting down their guard and not physically distancing…”

We will continue to promote good public health on campus, coupled with the availability of testing for employees. We ask that you carry these good public health behaviors into your personal and community life to minimize transmission as we enter colder months. I expect we will continue to receive guidance from the CDC and Governor Mills in the coming days.

Our testing this week crossed 5,000 employee tests and 35,000 total tests on campus. This, with the foundational public health behaviors of wearing face coverings, watching physical distance, and washing hands and promoting good personal hygiene, has kept cases within our Bates community to a minimum thus far. I ask that we continue our efforts on these fronts and take these good behaviors into our personal, family, and community circles.

Thanks,

Geoff