COVID-19 Response
On Jan. 22, 2020, the Weber State University Office of Emergency Management and Planning was notified that the first case of a novel coronavirus, which had been rapidly spreading in Asia, had been reported in the United States.
A review and update of the WSU Pandemic Response Plan began and the WSU Emergency Operations Center was activated to begin daily monitoring of the spread of the virus. A communications team was assembled to ensure the campus community had the most up-to-date information available.
The WSU COVID-19 Task Force was implemented to find ways to further mitigate the spread of the virus. On March 11 and in the days following, classes and international university-sponsored travel were suspended at the instruction of Gov. Gary Herbert. WSU supervisors began facilitating the ability for most employees to work from home, and many campus buildings were closed as classes moved online.
The actions taken then and subsequent decisions such as offering more online and flexible courses allowed the university to flexibly continue serving students. As more information became available regarding how best to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, the university continued to respond and provide support to the campus community by holding virus testing clinics and contact tracing, followed eventually by vaccination clinics.
- More than 50 communications were sent out to students, faculty, staff and the community from March 2020 to April 2022.
- Approximately 20,000 tests were administered on campus.
- Approximately 100,000 vaccines were administered on campus.
- Face masks, plexiglass shields, hand sanitizer, viral disinfectant, signage and more were purchased and distributed.