Returning to Orange Level

It seems somehow incredible that it will be one year on March 16 that we first implemented pandemic safety measures at King’s. I want to take this opportunity to state how proud I am of the King’s community in face of so many challenges. We have adapted to the restrictions put in place in the fight against the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic as best we could and incredibly well. Our dedication to social distancing, staying home when possible, wearing masks and other measures has led to our community staying safe and a decline in the number of cases over the past several weeks.

The Middlesex-London Health Unit has announced that, effective today (March 1, 2021), our area has moved into the Orange Level of Ontario’s COVID-19 response framework.

For the King’s community, this means we have increased the number of study spaces on the King’s campus and the dining room space at the Thames Market.

With these two exceptions, King’s will continue to operate mostly virtual, with the remainder of the King’s services continuing to operate under the same procedures put in place as when our area was in the Red Level.

I want to particularly thank the residence community for their diligence in staying safe. Residents will receive more detailed emails from the Residence and Campus Life Office regarding ongoing residence services until the end of the term.

While we are all excited to see restrictions being lifted in the Orange level, I would caution the members of our community to continue to follow all government and public health recommendations. Please remain at home to study and work wherever possible to limit the spread of COVID-19 as well as a rising number of variants.

We should all be proud of the great strides we have made in recent days and weeks, but we must remain vigilant and follow the appropriate guidelines so we can continue to move forward.

These are still early days to predict what fall will look like. With the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines and our continued efforts, I am hopeful, like Western, we may be able to return to campus this fall. We expect Residence to continue to be operational.

By working together to fight the spread of the virus, we demonstrate that we continue to take care of ourselves, take care of each other and help our essential workers as they take care of this place.