UW emerges from pause, moves to phase 2 of fall return plan

LARAMIE, Wyo. – The University of Wyoming will resume its phased fall return plan today, Tuesday, September 15th, following a nearly two-week pause that helped stem an outbreak of COVID-19 among the campus community.

That means the university is entering Phase 2 of the fall return plan, with the start of face-to-face instruction of first-year seminars that were scheduled to be in person beginning Sept. 7, as well as some pharmacy and other graduate courses.

Bridge testing of employees and students on campus will continue, and campus buildings will reopen in a gradual manner. On-campus students, faculty and staff will continue using the COVID Pass tool for daily health screening. Everyone on the UW campus is required to wear face protection and practice 6-foot physical distancing.

“The pause succeeded in allowing us to get a better handle on the testing data and in taking necessary actions to help limit transmission of the virus,” President Ed Seidel says. “Now, we’re ready to resume the phased return plan, with additional measures in place to keep the campus as safe as possible. For us to avoid another pause and proceed to the next phase Sept. 28, everyone — on campus or off — must adhere to those measures and avoid large off-campus gatherings where distancing and/or face protection are not employed.”

Since Friday, there have been 27 new cases of COVID-19 reported among UW students and employees — all but four of them detected in the university’s bridge testing program of asymptomatic individuals. Of those cases, 20 are students; seven are employees. That brings the total number of active cases among the UW community to 93.