Interim US President Has Threshold in Mind for Closing Campuses Due to COVID-19
Monday, August 24th, 2020 -- 8:08 AM
(AP) -Interim University of Wisconsin President Tommy Thompson said Friday that he has a threshold in mind for when a COVID-19 outbreak would trigger campuses to shut down, but he’s not saying what it is.Thompson, who took questions during an online Milwaukee Press Club event, said he hasn’t revealed the information to anyone. UW students are returning to campus this month as other colleges across the country have seen spikes in coronavirus cases that have led to sending students home. “I’m not going to tell you ... what my plans are as far as incidents and so on, but you can rest assured I’m looking at all of the data on a daily basis,” he said. Asked whether the thresholds for closing a campus would be made public, Thompson said, “No.” “They’re in my head,” said Thompson, a former U.S. Health and Human Services secretary. “Even the people around here don’t know.”
Data about testing and results will be gathered and made public, he said. “We’re going to have cases; there’s no question about it,” Thompson said. “We want people to understand what we’re doing.” Thompson said he was consulting with health professionals on a regular basis and he was confident that UW’s policies will be able to deal with outbreaks. But he stressed that what happens is largely up to how students behave. Classes on UW campuses, including the flagship Madison campus, resume in September.
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