Cornell shuts down its Ithaca campus after significant signs of omicron variant found

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

Tweet text:

NPR
@NPR
Cornell University is shutting down its Ithaca, N.Y., campus and is moving to "alert level red" — it's highest alert level — due to what officials say is a rapid spread of COVID-19 cases among students.

Cornell shuts down its Ithaca campus after significant signs of omicron variant found
The campus reported nearly 500 new cases of COVID-19 among the student body. The new omicron variant was detected "in a significant number" of positive tests, the university said.
npr.org
5:41 PM · Dec 14, 2021

https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/12/14/1064197606/cornell-university-omicron-campus-shut-down-covid

Cornell University is shutting down its Ithaca, N.Y., campus and is moving to "alert level red" — its highest alert level — due to what officials say is a rapid spread of COVID-19 cases among students.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the campus reported 469 active student cases of the coronavirus and that, for the week of Dec. 6, about 3% of tests were positive among the students tested, according to Cornell's online COVID-19 dashboard.

In an online letter to students, Cornell University President Martha Pollack said the campus's COVID-19 testing lab team detected evidence of the omicron variant "in a significant number of Monday's positive student samples."

Because of the closures across campus, Pollack said all final exams for the fall semester will be moved online and all campus activities, including campus athletics, are canceled. The school's libraries are also closed for students.

In addition, the school's recognition ceremony for fall graduates, scheduled for Dec. 18, is canceled.

*snip*

[Scrivener7]

1. 500. Good God!

[mainer]

2. And they're all vaccinated.

Ithaca is a highly vaccinated area, too. This is an alarming number of breakthroughs.

[LisaL]

3. Some are even boosted (per the article).

Looks like omicron is easily breaking through the vaccines.

[Native]

4. But no severe illnesses thus far.

[Texaswitchy]

5. The crap will never go away.

Damn.