Message from the ACC President
October 16, 2020
Dear College Community,
ACC President Dr. Algie C. Gatewood
Fall break concludes today and next week many faculty and students will return to campus. Many others will continue instruction and learning in an online environment.
If you have not done so already, I ask that everyone in our College community leverage the newest weapon to minimize the spread of the coronavirus – SlowCOVIDNC. This app on your cell phone alerts you to potential exposure to the virus from others around you who may be asymptomatic.
SlowCOVIDNC exposure notification is a statewide initiative. Universities and colleges in particular are being asked to adopt this important technology. The more people who use this app, the more effective it is. As Aesop reminds us: “In union, there is strength.”
Learn more about the SlowCOVIDNC app work here: https://www.alamancecc.edu/health-alert/slowcovidnc/.
We are now wrapping up the installation of special air filtration systems for buildings across our two campuses. This add-on to our existing air-handling system ionizes the air and extracts particulates responsible for black mold, mildew, bacteria, and viruses. The filtration system is similar to what hospitals employ.
I remind you that we have scheduled a flu shot clinic on main campus on November 5. This vaccine is no leap of faith; please take advantage of this.
On Thursday this week, our state reported 2,532 new COVID cases – the highest daily increase since March. To put that into a larger context, the state on Thursday reported a total of 238,939 cases since the pandemic began. Alamance County reported 4,580 cases since the start of the pandemic. Further, the Governor’s office reports that Covid-related hospitalizations are on the rise and that recent counts are the highest they have ever been since August.
Those aren’t just numbers. They represent real people, real pain. That’s why I use this weekly message to remind everyone, again and again, to be considerate of others by practicing personal responsibility and safe habits.
Limiting our personal interactions, minimizing our mobility, restricting our social activities – all this requires an inner discipline that taxes us all. In these times, I take comfort in the wise words of that poet and philosopher Theodor Seuss Geisel: “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
Sincerely,
Dr. Algie C. Gatewood
Alamance Community College President