Alert – Please Read – Alarming Trend Emerges on Embry-Riddle’s Daytona Beach Campus

Please Help Us Slow the Spread of Covid-19

The number of Covid-19 cases on Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Daytona Beach Campus has nearly tripled since right before winter break 2020 – from 195 cases as of Nov. 19, 2020 to 568 as of today.

While Embry-Riddle’s Prescott Campus has managed to keep its Covid-19 numbers down, the tally on the Daytona Beach Campus keeps increasing at an alarming rate, despite strict safety protocols including mandatory masks, physical distancing and daily wellness checks as well as on-campus vaccine clinics.

The Daytona Beach Campus reported 30 new cases of Covid-19 for the week ending April 8 and 45 people remain in isolation and under care as of today. A member of the extended Embry-Riddle community this week entered the ICU after contracting Covid-19. We send our warm wishes to the family and we join them in hoping for a speedy recovery.

Across the country, colleges and universities are cancelling in-person classes in response to a nationwide spike in Covid-19 cases on residential campuses. Over the past several days, for example, institutions such as the University of Chicago and Wayne State University have pivoted to online-only instruction in response to escalating Covid-19 cases. Other universities have instituted lockdowns and quarantined multiple residence halls simultaneously. Few institutions have managed to maintain face-to-face learning throughout most of the pandemic, as Embry-Riddle has done.

We are continuing to do everything that we can do to keep our community as safe as possible, but the rise of Covid-19 variants seems to be making that job more difficult.

Students, faculty and staff – please double down on individual safety precautions.

That means you should heed these guidelines:

• Avoid gathering with others who do not live with you, unless you have all been vaccinated for at least 14 days. Embry-Riddle has relied on the CDC’s Considerations for Higher Education. The CDC has placed attendance at large out-of-class social gatherings and events in its highest risk category.
• Steer clear of house parties and bar-type settings where you may not be able to stay safe. We love Embry-Riddle students because they are enthusiastic, curious, social beings, but we all need to stay disciplined for a few more weeks. We know that the pandemic has gotten extremely old, but please – please hang in there with us, gang. The end of the semester is now in sight.
• Keep wearing your mask at all times – both on and off campus. Wear it over your mouth as well as your nose, please. In Florida and Arizona, you may notice that many people gather in large groups without masks. Eagles are different. Eagles focus on safety and personal responsibility. Be an Eagle.
• The hands. Keep washing them. Yes, we said it again.
• If you feel ill, stay in your living quarters. Contact the healthcare professionals on your campus. Do not attend class or any other group activities if you are ill.

As previously announced, Embry-Riddle has now secured limited but ongoing vaccination supplies for both of our residential campuses, in Prescott, Arizona and Daytona Beach, Florida. Whenever supplies arrive on campus, we will issue an email to everyone, inviting appointments.

Once again, we ask everyone to get vaccinated as soon as possible. We all look forward to the time when enough people will be vaccinated so that we can all return to more normal day-to-day life, with fewer precautions in place. To find out where you can get a vaccine, please refer to our April 2 announcement, which urged you to “Make Your Vaccination Plan Now.”

Latest Covid-19 Test Results

Embry-Riddle’s latest results reflect the time-period April 1-8, 2021. The following numbers are cumulative, gathered since our testing began on June 22, 2020:

DAYTONA BEACH CAMPUS (since June 22, 2020)

• 7,062 individuals tested by Embry-Riddle (screening & contact type)
• 3,833 individuals tested by Embry-Riddle (sentinel type)
• 355 cases confirmed positive by Embry-Riddle
• 212 other cases confirmed positive through external testing
• 1 previously confirmed case

Total Cases Confirmed to Date: 568

Total Cases Recovered/Cleared to Resume Activities: 523

Total Cases Active/Under Isolation: 45

Total Vaccinated – Daytona Beach Campus: 393

NOTE: The numbers above are cumulative, compiled since June 22, 2020. On the Daytona Beach Campus, 30 cases of Covid-19 were newly discovered during this past week (April 1-8, 2021).

PRESCOTT CAMPUS (since June 22, 2020)

• 3,302 individuals tested by Embry-Riddle (screening & contact type)
• 1,010 individuals tested by Embry-Riddle (sentinel type)
• 48 cases confirmed positive by Embry-Riddle
• 89 other cases confirmed positive through external testing
• 5 previously confirmed cases

Total Cases Confirmed to Date: 142

Total Cases Recovered/Cleared to Resume Activities: 137

Total Cases Active/Under Isolation: 5

Total Vaccinated – Prescott Campus: 691

NOTE: The numbers above are cumulative, compiled since June 22, 2020. On the Prescott Campus, two new cases of Covid-19 were newly discovered during this past week (April 1-8, 2021).

WORLDWIDE CAMPUS (since June 22, 2020)

• 3 cases confirmed positive through external testing
• 3 previously confirmed cases

Total Cases Confirmed to Date: 6

Total Cases Recovered/Cleared to Resume Activities: 6

Total Cases Active/Under Isolation: 0

Only confirmed (not suspected) cases are reported. All confirmed cases are fully disclosed to the university community as well as all appropriate health authorities. Embry-Riddle’s Covid-19 test results are released every Friday. They are posted to our Latest Testing Results online site.