San Diego State will delay the start of in-person instruction in Spring 2021 for two weeks following students’ return from winter break, the university announced in a Dec. 8 email.
The adjustment is being made to allow time for mandatory COVID-19 testing to be conducted among students enrolled in classes with a face-to-face component, the email stated.
Virtual instruction for Spring 2021 will begin on Jan. 20 and in-person instruction for the limited and approved courses will begin on Feb 3.
This announcement comes after San Diego County was placed under a mandatory stay-at-home order once again on Dec. 6, along with the other counties in the Southern California region.
According to the state’s COVID-19 website, a stay-at-home order will go into effect when a region has less than 15% ICU availability.
In the Southern California region (which includes Los Angeles, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, Imperial, Inyo, Orange, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties) ICU capacity is at 7.7% as of Dec. 10.
The Greater Sacramento (13.3% ICU capacity) and San Joaquin Valley (1.9% ICU capacity) regions are also under regional stay-at-home orders.
The courses cleared for in-person instruction include labs, ENS athletic courses, and a number of art, music, and theater classes in the College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts.
The university said SDSU will continue to comply with the California State University guidelines as well as state and county guidelines.
COVID-19 Testing and Resources:
SDSU offers free COVID-19 testing to all currently enrolled students, faculty and staff. Testing on-campus is available by appointment only. To schedule an appointment, students can call Student Health Services at 619-594-4325. Online appointments can also be scheduled through HealtheConnect, SDSU’s secure online health portal.
San Diego County also operates a free, drive-through and walk-up testing site at SDSU located at 6200 Alvarado Road in Parking Lot 17B as well as a walk-up testing center at the Parma Payne Goodall Alumni Center located on 55th Street. Both sites are open to the public and do not require an appointment, more information is available at the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency testing website.
Brenden Tuccinardi contributed reporting to this story.
