You may have heard the encouraging news about the California Department of Public Health moving Fresno County into the Tier 2 (red) status from Tier 1 (purple) in accordance with California’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy. This is significant as it denotes an improvement for our county’s designation from “widespread” risk for transition of the novel coronavirus to a “substantial” risk.

We are very pleased that Fresno County has transitioned to the Tier 2 status, which will allow for the reopening of many local businesses with limited capacity, such as restaurants, retail stores, gyms and houses of worship. (Please visit the County’s webpage to learn more.)

As we saw this summer, the virus positivity rate in our county can change quickly. It is vitally important for each of us to be diligent about adhering to public health guidelines, including wearing facial coverings, maintaining physical distancing and avoiding large gatherings.

Please note that the change in the county’s status will not alter our fall semester plan in regard to the number of in-person courses and our overall on-campus population of 2,200 students, faculty and staff. It is our collective responsibility to ensure a healthy environment for our students and colleagues as our efforts will also help to mitigate the spread of the virus in the county.

Further, on-campus meetings and events will continue to be limited to no more than 25 socially-distanced persons, through the fall semester. (Additional information regarding in-person events and meetings for spring 2021 will be reviewed in early November.)

Thank you for your diligence and for doing your part, as a member of the larger community, to reduce the spread of the virus. We truly are all in this together.

Read the full message at the fall 2020 website.