August 26, 2020

Dear Campus Community,

Furman University today added a dashboard to the Furman Focused website with the latest data related to COVID-19 testing, isolation and quarantine on campus, as confirmed through the Earle Student Health Center and Furman contact tracing protocols. The university will update this dashboard every Monday afternoon going forward.

According to tests that have been obtained by the Earle Student Health Center, there are zero positive student cases, as of August 25. However, we have heard of students obtaining off-campus tests without reporting symptoms and test results to the Earle Student Health Center. Because of federal privacy laws, we cannot provide any information that identifies these or other students.

In order to protect the health and safety of the Furman community, it is imperative that students complete the daily LiveSafe screening and work with the Earle Student Health Center, not off-campus providers. Failing to do so makes tracking overall campus health difficult, endangers the health of our students, faculty and staff, and threatens the ability to continue in-person instruction. Therefore, students who have obtained COVID-19 tests through outside entities must report their results to the Earle Student Health Center for confirmation and to protect the public health of campus.

The reporting protocols noted above are particularly important as we have received reports of parties and gatherings this past weekend that may have led to COVID-19 exposure. We urge students who have attended any gathering and are concerned about their health or possible exposure to COVID-19 to contact the Earle Student Health Center at furmanstudenthealth@prismahealth.org. Reports to the student health center initiate Furman’s quarantine, isolation, and contact tracing protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

As a reminder, in-person classes have been designed in such a way that students are not in close contact with one another, thus preventing exposure. A close contact is defined as being within 6 feet for more than 15 minutes, with or without a face covering, with anyone testing positive for COVID-19 within 48 hours prior to the onset of their symptoms. Regardless, any students who are not comfortable attending class due to a potential exposure outside of the classroom may communicate with their professor about remote participation.

Please continue to follow the healthy habits outlined on the Furman Focused website and adhere to the Paladin Promise. As always, you may submit any questions to furman.focused@furman.edu.

Stay well.

Sincerely,

Ken Peterson, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost
Connie Carson, Vice President for Student Life

Co-Chairs, Fall Planning Steering Committee