With in-person learning set to resume for the fall semester today, Sept. 9, Northeastern University is taking precautionary steps to prevent the spread of covid on their campus and within their school community.
All students, staff and faculty were required to be vaccinated and submit proof of their vaccination via the university’s wellness portal no later than yesterday, Sept. 8, according to Northeastern spokesperson Shannon Nargi, and beginning this week, faculty, staff, students, and vendor employees are required to test once a week if they are on campus one day a week or more. “This testing cadence applies on any U.S.-based Northeastern campus,” added Nargi.
Also starting the week of Sept. 6, everyone is required to complete a Daily Wellness Check any day they are on any Northeastern campus, said Nargi, and at the start of the fall semester, all faculty, staff, visitors, and vendors – regardless of vaccination status – are required to wear masks indoors. The mask mandate went into effect for students as soon as soon they moved onto campus, and Sept. 6 for faculty, staff, visitors, and vendors living off campus.
Northeastern also offered a vaccination clinic on its Boston campus on Sept. 3, and will offer another one today, Sept. 9, which is open to anyone in its school community who need to be vaccinated.
“The university’s management of the pandemic over the last 18 months has consistently been ahead of the curve and has allowed Northeastern to maintain safe, effective operational continuity without interrupting students’ academic progress or our research growth,” wrote Ken Henderson
Chancellor and Senior Vice President for Learning, in an official statement released Aug. 2. “Achieving a 100 percent vaccination rate among our community will allow all of us to continue to achieve these goals and will further safeguard our community.”
The Huntington Testing Center also continues to offer testing to anyone in the Northeastern community who is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19.
Northeastern officials also said they would continually monitor health and safety conditions as the fall semester progresses and update their protocol in response to Covid accordingly.