By Emmy Liederman
Editor-in-Chief
A COVID-19 case at the College was confirmed by President Kathryn Foster in a campus-wide email on Thursday, March 19. According to Head Media Relations Officer Luke Sacks, this is the first known case in the campus community.
Assistant Professor of History Craig Hollander took to Facebook on the night of Wednesday, March 18 to announce his diagnosis, detail his symptoms and warn those who may have come in contact with him.
“I am 38-years-old and in otherwise fine health,” he wrote. “I had never missed a day of work from sickness before last Thursday. I have no clue how I got Covid-19. But it comes with a variety of symptoms, even though we’re only focusing on the pulmonary ones. So be alert.”
According to Foster’s email, Hollander was last on campus on Monday, March 9, a day before he started experiencing symptoms.
“On that Monday, Dr. Hollander taught three classes (two sections of HIS 260 and HIS 460) and had lunch with colleagues in the 1855 Room,” she wrote. “His students and dining partners have been notified and have been advised to self-quarantine.”
A few hours before Foster’s email surfaced, Interim Provost William Keep warned students who may have come into close contact with Hollander, which is defined by The Center for Disease Control as someone who is within six feet of an infected person for more than 10 minutes, in an email with the subject “IMPORTANT and specific to you--please read NOW.”
“I am terribly sorry to be writing you in this manner, but we felt it was of utmost importance to reach you as quickly as possible,” he wrote.
In the email, he advised students to stay home, avoid close contact with others and monitor themselves for symptoms such as a fever, cough and diarrhea.
