Last week, on September 17, Sonoma State sent out an email to the community stating, “Sonoma State University is acting on a confirmed case of COVID-19 on campus.” 

In an email correspondence with Robert Eyler, the Interim Public Relations Officer, he gave notice that “So far, one student and two employees who have been on campus have tested positive since the Fall Semester began.” This contradicts the email recently sent out on September 17 to the whole community at Sonoma State University, which only gave notice of one student testing positive for COVID-19. 

In response to the confirmed cases, Sonoma State University has reportedly had the student in isolation since their positive test. According to Robert Eyeler, “No other students who have been on campus have reported testing positive up to Sept 18, 2020. We have informed students and staff that may have had contact with the student, and notified them as needed.” 

Sonoma State University continues to stay in close touch with the affected individual to ensure that they are getting the care that they need. According to the email, the school has continued to remain in consistent appliances with the local public health department and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention protocols for infectious disease response. 

To minimize exposure, Eyler assured, “We have daily screening and have asked all faculty, staff, and students that come to campus to take on personal tasks to minimize and report exposure. At this time, we have very low infection rates, a testament to staff efforts to keep both students safe and also employees that are on campus safe.”

“Individuals who had direct contact with the COVID infected persons will be contacted by the COVID Monitoring Team,” said the Director for Emergency Services Missy Brunetta, in the email. The school has been given strict guidelines to follow, so that as a community the spread can be contained compared to other CSUs. 

The New York Times released an article tracking the outbreak of COVID-19 on college campuses all over the country. California State University of Chico had reported 145 positive cases, and San Diego State University had the highest rate of 444 positive cases. Sonoma State University was not listed.

For sanitization purposes, areas at SSU that may have been affected by the individual who tested positive for COVID-19 have been shut down. Buildings such as the Schulz Information Center–with the exception of the Information Technology Suite– will be closed. According to Eyeler, the Schulz Information Center will reopen the morning of Tuesday, September 22.

Sonoma State University upholds the CDC recommendations to always wear a face covering when in public spaces, practice physical distancing at all times, and to stay home if symptoms start to appear. It is through daily screenings and remote learning that Sonoma State University has been able to keep most of the community members safe and healthy.