ASU News: President Crow on COVID-19 Update
After stating over the weekend, Arizona State would not be releasing their student and faculty COVID-19 statistics; school President Michael Crow did so Tuesday night in a letter to students. According to President Crow, there are currently 161 known positive cases within the ASU community, and 32,729 tests have been collected since August 1.
The letter also included clarifications about student conduct. ASU will suspend anyone found not following social distancing guidelines on or off-campus. Students in school housing cannot have any guests in the residence halls and could be suspended if caught doing so. This comes after a weekend where Tempe Police cited six parties involving ASU students, according to Arizona Central. A reminder was then given that face coverings are required in all ASU buildings and campus, inside and now outside. Whereas before masks were only necessary outside when social distancing was not possible. Face coverings are only not required when eating outside.
“COVID-19 is here and will be here for the foreseeable future...We need everyone to follow all public health protocols: wear a mask, practice physical distancing, complete your daily health check, stay home when you are sick, wash your hands regularly and avoid touching your face. That is the only way that we will be able to effectively manage COVID-19,” wrote president Crow.
With all four ASU campuses encompassing about 100,000 students, having less than 1% of positive cases is a great indicator of sports resuming in the spring or sooner.