WASHINGTON — Howard University announced it's delaying the start of its spring semester due to a surge in COVID-19 cases across the region.
In a letter to the community Monday, Anthony Wutoh, Howard's provost and chief academic officer, and Hugh Mighty, the senior vice president for health affairs and dean of the College of Medicine, wrote that the spring 2022 semester will now start on Jan. 18.
Within four days before returning to campus from winter break, individuals will need to show proof of a negative PCR test in order to attend in-person classes.
Wutoh and Mighty said the school has an average testing positivity rate of 19% — the highest since the pandemic started.
They wrote, "At that rate, we would not have enough beds to quarantine positive students living in the residence halls, if students returned on the originally scheduled start date for the spring semester."
Administrative operations at Howard resume on Jan. 3 with many staff members teleworking and with meetings taking place virtually when possible. Students who live on campus can return on Jan. 14.
Wutoh and Mighty said masking, vaccinations and testing were essential to the university's fall semester. All students, staff and faculty who are eligible will be required to get a COVID-19 booster dose by Jan. 31.
"Breakthrough cases of COVID-19 will continue to occur. We know that individuals who have received a booster shot of mRNA vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna) have significantly more antibodies in their system than individuals who have not yet received booster shots and even more than those who are unvaccinated," Wutoh and Mighty wrote. "The bottom line is that you are more protected if you are vaccinated."
Howard is offering booster vaccines on its campus Tuesdays and Thursday at Freedman's Hall in Howard University Hospital.
Once the community is back on campus, Howard will hold a virtual town hall to answer questions about the school's response to COVID-19.
"Our highest priority is the health and safety of our students, faculty and staff," Wutoh and Mighty wrote. "As we continue to navigate the pandemic, we are leveraging our collective knowledge and experience to adapt our community to the many changes in the virus and the pandemic."