CDC’s New COVID-19 Guidance Under Review at Middlebury

Dear Middlebury Community,

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today announced new guidance for COVID-19, specifically related to masks and testing. The recommendations call for loosening mask restrictions in areas of the United States with low prevalence and sufficient hospital capacity, and for discontinuing surveillance testing in favor of only testing those who are identified as close contacts or who have symptoms. Additional precautions are recommended in areas with medium or high prevalence.

We are evaluating the new guidance, and will share more information about any policy changes next week. As of today, Addison County is in the high community level category.

At this time, our indoor masking and student testing requirements have not changed and remain in place.

The CDC’s recommendations are based on a combination of factors, including the number of cases in a specific area, the number of people who are hospitalized with COVID-19, including those who were admitted because of the virus and those who tested positive after they were admitted. In areas of low prevalence, where cases number 200 per 100,000 or fewer and hospital capacity is sufficient, the recommendation is for individuals to stay up to date on vaccinations, get tested if sick, and to take additional precautions if they are immunocompromised or if they live with people who are at higher risk. The CDC emphasized that individuals should continue to take precautions that are best for their circumstances and for what makes them most comfortable. Officials also noted that we all need to be prepared to scale up or scale down measures as conditions change.

At Middlebury, we continue to assess how the recommendations apply to our residential campus.

As always, you can find the latest information on the Campus Status page.

Sincerely,

Mark Peluso 

Chief Health Officer and College Physician

Smita Ruzicka

Vice President for Student Affairs