Tompkins Cortland Community College (TC3) has transitioned to remote learning for a week after a COVID-19 cluster was discovered.
In a Nov. 8 statement, TC3 announced that it will be going completely remote from Nov. 9 to 15. There are currently 11 positive cases, all of which are students. There are two students in isolation on campus, with the rest being commuters, according to the statement. There are 70 students who are quarantined because of in-class exposure and 11 faculty members are quarantined because of in-class exposure. No staff or faculty members have tested positive for COVID-19.
TC3 stated that as a result of in-class exposures, the Tompkins County Health Department recommended that it hold remote classes. It is also suspending operations at its fitness center, open recreation and athletic practices for additional cleaning of facilities and equipment. TC3 was not required to go remote by the county, state or SUNY but decided to act out of an abundance of caution, the statement said.
TC3 plans to reopen Nov. 16 and will move to a model with lower density after Thanksgiving break, which will take place Nov. 25–29 according to the statement. TC3 is offering testing from Nov. 16 to 19.
TC3 announced that there were three new positive cases Oct. 22 and had previously held remote learning from Sept. 3 to 11 after six students tested positive.
As of Nov. 8, there are 60 active cases in Tompkins County, with a total of 688, beginning March 2020.
There are currently four active positive cases at Ithaca College, as of Nov. 7. There have been a total of 36 positive cases since Aug. 14.
On-campus testing is available for students and employees from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. every Tuesday and Wednesday at the Athletics and Events Center. Students who are experiencing symptoms should call the Hammond Health Center at 607-274-3177. Faculty and staff members who are symptomatic are not allowed on campus and should go to the sampling site at The Shops at Ithaca Mall.
