The Gazette publishes front-page story on Cornell’s COVID response

The (Cedar Rapids) Gazette published a story, “Cornell stands apart in COVID-19 response,” on Sept. 22.

The article details Cornell’s testing strategy and the benefits of the block plan during a pandemic.

The article says: 

But Cornell College — Mount Vernon’s private liberal arts college with 1,002 mostly-residential students — is different.

As of Monday morning, it was reporting no student cases and two positive employees since Aug. 28.

Of course, Cornell’s differences extend beyond its COVID-19 tally — including to its smaller size, its block-system learning structure and its testing tactics.

Unique in this region, Cornell has created its own proactive sampling strategy — pulling from faculty and student summer research — that involves periodic asymptomatic testing of “high-contact groups,” cluster sampling by residence hall floor and random sampling of faculty and staff. The campus is using an antigen test designed to detect COVID-19 viral proteins through a nasal swab.