MCC Daily Tribune

Pooled Testing to Begin Next Week

Dear Campus Community,

Thanks to you, MCC's Fall 2020 semester is off to a safe start, with limited on-campus operations, daily self-assessments, and preventative measures in place to slow the spread of COVID-19.

One of the ways we will continue to reduce exposure to the virus and keep MCC campuses accessible this fall is through increased testing.

As SUNY Chancellor Dr. Jim Malatras announced earlier this month, recent advancements at SUNY Upstate Medical University and University at Albany have increased SUNY's capacity for surveillance testing. Conducted in partnership with SUNY Upstate, pooled testing will begin at MCC next week and will be mandatory and free for students. Students will be scheduled to provide a saliva sample, following a simple process, which will be sent to SUNY Upstate for testing. Regularly scheduled pooled testing will help MCC more quickly contain outbreaks before they happen on campus.

We are finalizing our plan and will share more information over the coming weeks via email, the MCC Daily Tribune/Student Tribune and online.

As of September 21, MCC has been notified of 4 positive cases of COVID-19 among students and employees who are in self-isolation and did not come to campus; a total of 7 individuals are in mandatory or precautionary quarantine off campus. Members of the campus community should be aware that if that number rises to 57 positive cases--inclusive of students, faculty, and staff within a 14-day period--MCC must immediately transition to fully remote and online learning and limit on-campus activities for a period of 14 days. Daily updates are available on the SUNY COVID-19 Case Tracker.

When you take precautions to keep yourself healthy, you are helping stop the spread of COVID-19 and keeping our campuses and community open and safe. Thank you for doing your part.

Katherine Douglas
Office of the President
09/23/2020