I am part of the Contact Tracing Team at Baylor, leading a Wellness Team which checks on students, faculty and staff in isolation after a positive COVID-19 test result. I also lead a Survey Team which is tracking the impacts of COVID-19 on the Baylor community, and long-term COVID-19 symptoms, Long COVID. Baylor has published an paper in the Cambridge University Press on the how the University was able to sustain operations during the COVID-19 pandemic, and protect the health and well-being of the Baylor community.
Sustaining University Operations During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 08 March 2021
https://doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2021.69
Benjamin J. Ryan, Michael P. Muehlenbein, Jon Allen, Joshua Been, Kenneth Boyd, Mark Brickhouse, Bryan W. Brooks, Matthew Burchett, C. Kevin Chambliss, Jason D. Cook, Adam Ecklund, Lori Fogleman, Peter Granick, Sharra Hynes, Tonya Hudson, Michelle Huse, Micah Lamb, Tiffany Lowe, Jim Marsh, Niesha Nixon, Dennis Nolan, George Nuñez, Walter “Sparky” Matthews, Sharon Stern, Meaghann Wheelis and Nancy Brickhouse
Abstract: Colleges and universities around the world engaged diverse strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Baylor University, a community of ˜22,700 individuals, was 1 of the institutions which resumed and sustained operations. The key strategy was establishment of multidisciplinary teams to develop mitigation strategies and priority areas for action. This population-based team approach along with implementation of a “Swiss Cheese” risk mitigation model allowed small clusters to be rapidly addressed through testing, surveillance, tracing, isolation, and quarantine. These efforts were supported by health protocols including face coverings, social distancing, and compliance monitoring. As a result, activities were sustained from August 1 to December 8, 2020. There were 62,970 COVID-19 tests conducted with 1435 people testing positive for a positivity rate of 2.28%. A total of 1670 COVID-19 cases were identified with 235 self-reports. The mean number of tests per week was 3500 with approximately 80 of these positive (11/d). More than 60 student tracers were trained with over 120 personnel available to contact trace, at a ratio of 1 per 400 university members. The successes and lessons learned provide a framework and pathway for similar institutions to mitigate the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 and sustain operations during a global pandemic.
