External Factors
- State of Illinois and City of Chicago Reopening Phase decisions
- Positivity rates in IL, Chicago, Evanston and suburban Cook County (# days increasing, sustained levels)
- Local hospital demand and capacity
Campus Activity Levels
Northwestern continues to monitor the internal and external environment to inform decision-making about the status of campus operations. We also continue to engage with our clinical advisors at Northwestern Medicine, as well as public health departments from the State of Illinois, City of Evanston and City of Chicago. For the remainder of Fall Quarter, and looking forward to Winter, we are introducing the following framework outlining indicators that inform the level of campus activity that can be supported given current conditions.
Internal Factors
- Northwestern-specific virus reproduction experience (R(t))
- Growth in number of cases (daily and weekly)
- Total number of cases (daily and weekly) per 1,000 NU community members
- Testing positivity rate (7-day moving averages)
- Emergence of clusters (size and frequency)
- Medical severity of Northwestern cases
- Availability of on-campus quarantine and isolation space
- Testing availability and turnaround
- Contact tracing experience (number of close contacts, time to quarantine)
Learn About the Activity Levels
Green
What might cause it:
- Low testing positivity and no growth in new cases
- No concerns with quarantine and isolation space
- Favorable local and regional trends
What it looks like:
- No additional impacts to campus operations
- In-person activity increases
Yellow
What might cause it:
- Increasing testing positivity or increasing number of positive cases
- Small clusters of positive cases with NU-specific transmission
- Unfavorable local or regional trends
What it looks like:
- No increases in in-person activity
- Increased testing or reduced activity for targeted populations
Orange
What might cause it:
- High levels of Northwestern-specific transmission on campus
- Multiple large clusters of positive cases
- Quarantine and isolation space approaching 75% of capacity
- Known transmission from students to faculty/staff
What it looks like:
- Likely two-week pause of in-person activity
- Modified shelter-at-home for Northwestern students
Red
What might cause it:
- State of Illinois moves back to Phase 3 of reopening plan
- On-campus quarantine and isolation space exceeded
- Northwestern-specific trends significantly worse than state/local experience
What it looks like:
- Campus operations and programming fully remote