Saint Elizabeth U. To Begin Semester Remote, Require COVID Test Upon Return

Update: Saint Elizabeth University instituted a booster requirement for students and staff. Find out more here.

MORRIS TOWNSHIP, NJ — Saint Elizabeth University will begin the spring semester remotely because of New Jersey's surge in COVID-19 cases. Online classes will begin Monday, and in-person education will start Jan. 24, President Dr. Gary B. Crosby announced Monday.

The small, private university will also enforce COVID-19 testing upon return. Students, faculty and staff must submit a negative test — PCR, rapid or at-home — taken within 72 hours of their intended return to campus.

Saint Elizabeth will continue to require students to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, meaning they've received two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna shots or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

The university requires two more weeks after the final dose to reach "full-vaccination" status. It typically takes two weeks post-vaccination for the body to build protection against the virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

The university has not instituted a booster requirement. At least four New Jersey higher-education institutions will make them mandatory soon, including Rutgers University and Drew University in Madison. Read more: Drew University To Require COVID Booster By End Of March

Last semester, Saint Elizabeth required unvaccinated employees to provide proof of a negative test every week, at their own expense.

Masking remains mandatory inside all Saint Elizabeth buildings.

Since Aug. 23, the university has reported 14 cases in on-campus students, 10 in off-campus students, nine for employees and four for campus-based contract workers. Saint Elizabeth had a student population of 786 in fall 2020, according to U.S. News & World Report.

Many schools of all education levels around the nation are currently wrestling with whether to go temporarily remote amid the omicron-variant surge, and some have done so. Cases among students and staff in New Jersey's K-12 schools and universities have ballooned in recent weeks.

Universities in New Jersey reported 128 cases among students and 50 among staff for the week ending in Nov. 28, according to the New Jersey Department of Health. The case totals increased to 466 among students and 255 among staff for the week ending Dec. 26.

For the week ending Nov. 28, the state health department reported new COVID-19 cases in 2.67 of every 1,000 students and 4.29 of every 1,000 staff members. The infection totals increased to 10.5 of every 1,000 students and 23.27 of every 1,000 employees for the week ending Dec. 26.

See more local resources:

• Looking for a COVID test? Here's what to know about Morristown's local testing centers.
• Here's where to find a COVID-19 booster shot — or first or second vaccination — around Greater Morristown.

Although most people with COVID-19 get better within weeks of the illness, some experience conditions known as long COVID or long-haul COVID, according to the CDC. Learn more about long COVID at the CDC's post-COVID conditions page.

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