COVID-19 Resources

COVID Alert Dashboard

Last Updated: January 11, 2021

Effective January 11, 2021, in conjunction with the January 6, 2021, press release from Governor Walz, loosening restrictions in Minnesota, we are moving our campus COVID safety alert level to Orange: High Transmission. The applicability of the safety color levels is determined by the President's Cabinet and is based on factors contained in this guidance from the Minnesota Department of Health along with advice from campus and local public health officials.

Inver Hills' goal is to mitigate the potential for transmission of COVID-19 within our campus and community. Achieving this goal requires full cooperation among students, employees, and members of our campus community. To this end, and to provide a means of communicating COVID conditions on campus, Inver Hills, in conjunction with the Minnesota State System Office and the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), has established a COVID Level Alert Dashboard.

The actions below include a set of assumed practices, as outlined by the Inver Hills' college's COVID-19 Preparedness Plan and other guidance:

• Adherence to facial covering requirements as described in Executive Order 20-84 and in "Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Face Mask Operating Instructions," July 24, 2020
• Mandatory completion of the COVID Self-Assessment Health Screening Tool prior to coming to c ampus as required by the Inver Hill COVID-19 Preparedness Plan under Executive Order 20-74 and Chancellor's July 16, 2020, memo ("Re: Updated COVID-19 safety requirements")
• Physical distancing implemented in campus spaces
• Size limits on in-person classes, campus activities, and events
• Following hand-washing and other safe health practices to control the spread of COVID

The purpose of the COVID Level Alert Dashboard is to provide us with guidance in the event we need to scale back in-person operations if transmission increases.

The COVID Alert Levels are: Green (Scenario 1): Low Transmission; Yellow (Scenario 2): Medium Transmission; Orange (Scenario 3): High Transmission; Deep Orange (Scenario 4): High Transmission in the Community; and Red (Scenario 5): High Transmission in Institution. On August 19, 2020, the MDH recommended that colleges and universities should start their fall 2020 semester in yellow status.

The applicability of the safety color levels is determined by the President's Cabinet and is based on factors contained in this guidance from the Minnesota Department of Health along with advice from campus and local public health officials. Below is a summary of the levels, corresponding actions, and some of the main indicators that inform the setting of the safety level.

Scenario 1

Transmission levels seen as manageable

Indicators

• Review guidance from the Governor's Emergency Executive Orders, the MDH and the Office of Higher Education. Recommended actions can be tailored as appropriate for unique campus situations.
• Contacts can be identified at the time of interview
• Dedicated on-campus isolation and quarantine beds are <50% full
• K-12 indicators <10 cases per 10,000 over two-week period

Recommended Mitigation Efforts

• Continue coordination of contact tracing
• Follow COVID-19 Preparedness Plan, including the identification of those counties for which the campus will actively track transmission trends
• Continue to follow health & safety measures including completing the COVID Self-Assessment Health Screening Questionnaire; maintaining social distancing; requiring masks and face coverings

Scenario 2

Transmission levels are beginning to tax campus resources

Indicators

• Review guidance from the Governor's Emergency Executive Orders, the MDH and the Office of Higher Education. Recommended actions can be tailored as appropriate for unique campus situations.
• Infections continue increasing over 14- day period in the county(ies) as identified in local Preparedness Plan
• >1% of campus students infected within 14-day period
• >5% of campus cases have unknown links to another case over 7-day period
• Dedicated on-campus isolation and quarantine beds are 50-75% full
• K-12 indicators 10- 30 cases per 10,000 over a 14-day period

Recommended Mitigation Efforts

If two or more indicators are met, College administration will consider implementing the following mitigation efforts:

• Reinforce health etiquette
• Extra mitigation efforts like canceling campus events and social gatherings
• Operating classrooms at partial capacity to allow for safe social distancing

Scenario 3

Transmission levels have seriously depleted or exhausted institutional resources. All prior recommendations apply with these additions.

Indicators

Infections continue to increase over two-week period after Yellow/Scenario 2 mitigation efforts put in place; consider additional mitigation efforts in guidance from Emergency Executive Orders from the Governor's office and from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH).

• Review guidance from the Governor’s Emergency Executive Orders, the MDH and the Office of Higher Education. Recommended actions can be tailored as appropriate for unique campus situations.
• >3% of campus students are infected within a 14-day period, considering where spread is occurring
• >75% of on-campus isolation and quarantine beds are full
• K-12 indicators >30 cases per 10,000 over a 14-day period

Recommended Mitigation Efforts

If two or more indicators are met, College administration will consider implementing the following mitigation efforts:

• Scale back in-person student support services and cancelling specific class sections or cancel events
• Increasing frequency of cleaning and disinfecting on campus
• Restricting campus access to outside vendors or activities

Scenario 4

Transmission levels have seriously depleted or exhausted institutional, community or state resources, or the state is experiencing extensive community wide spread.

Indicators

• Infections continue to increase after Orange/Scenario 3 mitigation efforts put in place.
• Review guidance from the Governor's Emergency Executive Orders, the MDH and the Office of Higher Education. Recommended actions can be tailored as appropriate for unique campus situations.

Recommended Mitigation Efforts

• Mitigation efforts listed in this section are meant to be in combination with recommendations listed in Scenario 1 through 3.
• Implement a campus wide “lay low” period and direct students to stay at home and limit movement to attend courses when needed, study areas, work, or other essential services like healthcare, mental health, food service take out/pick up.
• Students and employees should continue to follow social distancing and masking requirements in addition to continued COVID testing efforts.
• Extracurricular activities/clubs/organizations should be significantly scaled back in terms of attendance, frequency of meeting, and moved to virtual wherever possible; consider postponing or canceling where feasible.
• Increasing frequency of cleaning and disinfecting on campus.
• Restricting campus access to outside vendors or activities.

Scenario 5

Transmission levels have serious depleted institutional resources

Indicators

The above mitigation efforts have not resulted in an improvement over a two- to three-week period after Scenario 3 or 4 has been put in place. Campus should move to online only until the next semester or after break.

Recommended Mitigation Efforts

Suspend in-person activities and shift to remote-only operations

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COVID case information*

COVID case information for Inver Hills can be found here by selecting Inver Hills Community College as the institution.

*Note: Data may not be comprehensive or in real-time due to testing and reporting delays and are subject to change. Campus numbers are updated on a weekly basis.

COVID situation data updates** from MDH can be found here: https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/coronavirus/situation.html#map1

**Note: MDH numbers are updated daily at 11 a.m., with data current as of 4 p.m. the previous day.