On Wednesday, September 16, the first positive case of COVID-19 in a Union College faculty/staff member was returned. It is currently unclear whether this member of the faculty/staff has been present on-campus, or has been working remotely during the term. 

Additionally, one student was found to have tested positive. This was the first positive result to be tested in a student since September 8, and has brought the total number of students who have tested positive to seven. As of writing, the number of students in isolation stands at twelve, with there being three active cases/individuals in isolation. That is made up of the college employee and two students.

In nearby Skidmore College, in Saratoga Springs, the total number of positive cases so far has been three, with one case being active. The college is at ‘Alert Level 1’, which is the lowest out of a possible five levels. This is explained as meaning that any positive cases can be “contained, isolated and controlled,” according to the Skidmore Website. 

Moreover, according to the SUNY Albany website, from September 12 to the present, there have been 50 positive test results among students at the college. SUNY Oneonta meanwhile moved to a completely online-term on September 3, after beginning term on August 24, with there currently being 672 positive cases found at the college, according to the college’s COVID-19 dashboard. 

In Schenectady County as a whole, there have been a total of 1,374 positive cases, with two new cases being found on September 18, according to the New York State Department of Health COVID-19 tracker.

Union College Spokesperson Phillip Wajda, when contacted questioning whether the new Union cases were transmitted on-campus, explained that “in order to protect the privacy of any individual who may test positive, we will limit sharing any information that could help identify the individual.”

Note: A previous version of the article used “faculty” and “staff” interchangeably. It is currently unknown whether the positive result was from a member of the faculty or a member of staff.