Boston University will be permanently closing its COVID-19 Clinical Testing Laboratory and transitioning to a tiered vaccination policy starting May 23, according to an email sent to students from Judy Platt, Chief Health Officer and Executive Director Student Health Services.
In a letter to the campus community Sunday, Amherst Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy wrote the designation would last a minimum of two weeks, and all students must remain in their residences unless they’re getting food, a twice-weekly COVID-19 test or going to a medical appointment.
“The governor keeps pushing schools to reopen for in-person learning more quickly, regardless of the risks to staff and students, yet he has just made it much harder to do that safely,” said Beth Kontos, president of the AFT Massachusetts.
From his office at the State House, Baker began the speech by acknowledging the damage of, and lives lost to, COVID-19 — what he called “the worst public health crisis of the last 100 years.”
Walsh recognized health care workers, essential workers and the more than 1,000 Bostonians who died of COVID-19. After the unprecedented difficulties of 2020, Walsh said 2021 will be “a year for healing.”
Boston University currently holds around 20 students in designated isolation housing, which is reserved for those on campus who have tested positive for COVID-19. And this sophomore is among them.
