Following five days of decline in new COVID-19 cases and a decrease in total cases, TCU officials said the situation may be improving.
Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Kathy Cavins-Tull wrote Monday in an email to faculty and staff the news is not a celebration but a sign that the university’s efforts at slowing the spread of the disease are working.
Cavins-Tull wrote she expects to see “upticks and downward trends” in the coming days.
According to the email, there were far fewer on- and off-campus gatherings of students over the weekend. Events held after the first week of classes were identified as the source of a spike in infections leading into last week.
Though TCU reported a decline in total active cases Monday, Cavins-Tull wrote measures such as avoiding gatherings, wearing masks, social distancing, and frequent hand washing and cleaning should be continued.
This is a shift from her email to students last week, when she announced the availability of isolation beds was at 42%. She said she sent the message to make sure students were concerned about the availability.
“It’s our job to calibrate the needs of our students and try to keep students conscientious, which is really important.”
Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Kathy Cavins-Tull
Though the status of isolation bed availability is Level Yellow, Cavins-Tull said TCU has enough personal protective equipment to accommodate students in the upcoming cold and flu season.
As students recover, TCU will have more beds available, but Cavins-Tull said TCU isn’t out of the woods yet.
“While it is hard to avoid gatherings among friends who have been apart, I believe the necessary changes in behavior will have positive results,” she wrote in Monday’s email.