COVID-19 is still with us. We may see fewer people wearing masks, and we no longer get daily reports on case counts and deaths, but the virus is still spreading, and we are seeing an uptick in cases in recent days.

For the past two-plus years we have worked hard as a community to keep each other safe in the hopes of returning to life as we used to know it as a campus community. We are close to reaching that goal with in-person commencement ceremonies planned in the coming weeks. However, if the number of COVID-19 cases continues to climb there is a slim possibility those plans would have to change.

You can help avoid that and stay the course towards normalcy by taking a few precautions during the last days of the semester. First of all, stay home if you are sick. If you are on campus consider taking an asymptomatic test to check your COVID-19 status. They are available from 13 locations on campus. You can find a location at maps.utah.edu.

If you have been exposed to COVID-19, it is mandatory that you wear a mask while on campus for 14 days after exposure if you are vaccinated. If you are not vaccinated, you must spend 10 days in quarantine then continue to wear a mask for the final four days of that period when you are in public. In either case, you should be tested three to five days after the exposure to make sure you have not contracted the virus.

If you test positive for COVID-19, please isolate for at least five days or until symptoms are no longer present. After that period, please wear a mask while in public for at least another five days.

We are in the home stretch. Let’s all work together to keep COVID-19 cases down and move forward as a community to celebrate how far we’ve come.