How is VTS responding to COVID-19?
At Virginia Theological Seminary, we are conscious of the need to protect our community and guests from the virus as much as we are able. Our assumption throughout is that we are seeking to follow the advice of the CDC and other health-related authorities and medical professionals. To that end, we have formulated the following response. This includes:
- Prevention. We encourage all members of the community to follow the CDC’s recommended preventive actions.
- We are modifying our worship practices as appropriate.
- We require Faculty to organize a version of classes that is available on-line.
- We are preparing for a contingency that we have a person who has tested positive for the virus but does not need hospitalization.
- We are discouraging guests to the campus who are at higher risk of getting seriously ill from COVID-19.
- We are working closely with our food service to ensure that we can support the community through this season.
To Our Guests
We are sending the following message to all groups and guests who are planning to visit the campus during March:
We are letting you know that we have a group of seminarians and two faculty members who were in contact with the rector of Christ Church, Georgetown, who tested positive for COVID-19. Following the guidance from the DC Department of Health, those members of our community are in voluntary isolation for fourteen days from the date at which they were in contact with the rector. None of them are showing any symptoms of the virus currently. However, we do invite all those who are at higher risk for serious illness from COVID-19 (namely, older adults and people who have chronic medical conditions, like heart disease, diabetes, and lung disease) to stay away from the campus at this time.
If you have questions or information to share, please contact the Emergency Response Team at covid19@vts.edu.