This morning at 5 a.m., students at Middlebury College in Vermont woke up to strict new Covid protocols. The dining halls are closed. Students are eating āgrab-and-goā meals. All indoor events including classes, athletics and performances have gone remote or been canceled.
āRising student cases that require isolation, ongoing transmission, and the few days remaining in the semester warrant the change to remote instruction,ā says an
announcement on Middleburyās website.
āWhile many of the new cases we have identified appear to be connected, occurring in clusters among people who socialize together,ā says the announcement, āan increase in the prevalence of COVID-19 increases the likelihood of broader community transmission.ā
The announcement does not mention the Omicron variant. Instead it says, ā
With more than 99 percent of students fully vaccinated and many already receiving booster doses, the risk of adverse health outcomes from the Delta variant is low.ā