Surveillance testing program suspended, effective immediately

Posted: March 15, 2022

COVID-19 case counts at Gannon University’s Erie and Ruskin campuses and in the communities surrounding them have plummeted in recent weeks.

Given this shift and the success of our other efforts to protect our Gannon community from COVID-19, the university is suspending its surveillance testing program of unvaccinated faculty, staff, and students. This is effective immediately for both campuses.

We may need to restore the ongoing monitoring and other mitigation efforts if there is a resurgence, but we are happy to remove this requirement at this time. We hope, of course, to avoid another reversion back to restrictions and are encouraged by the vaccination rates for our Gannon communities in Erie and Ruskin, which have now reached about 85 percent.

We will continue to provide testing and support for symptomatic individuals as well as continuing required testing of our athletics teams, per NCAA and PSAC guidance.

This decision reflects the vastly reduced incidence we are seeing in our communities and among our Gannon colleagues. We transitioned to mask-optional on campus three weeks ago and said at the time that we would revisit our testing program. And happily, here we are taking this next step.

Though we have loosened the protective measures of a mask mandate and surveillance testing, be aware that COVID-19 is still in our communities -- and we individually should take the steps we deem necessary to protect ourselves. For some, that will mean the ongoing use of masks. We ask everyone to be respectful of this and to carry a mask in case someone requests that you wear it while meeting with them.

We also continue to urge anyone feeling ill or having symptoms of COVID-19 that you do not come to campus. Instead, reach out to our nurses through the LiveSafe app and await instruction on your appropriate next step.

Thank you for all your efforts to keep your colleagues and yourself safe. We are relieved to be in a place – two years into the pandemic – where we can take this step.

As always, if you have a question or a comment, you can submit it at https://www.gannon.edu/Questions-or-Comments/