Dear Editor,

Our community’s downward trend in COVID-19 cases, increased access to vaccinations, and warmer weather have seen more people out and about on campus. While this is, indeed, a welcomed sight, I want to reiterate to everyone that, unfortunately, the pandemic is not yet over, and we must remain vigilant with regards to basic health and safety measures. This means we all need to:

  • Wear a mask in all locations on campus, including outdoors,
  • Maintain social distancing of six feet, especially when you are indoors.

We all want to maintain Socorro County’s designation of Green and work toward achieving Turquoise status in New Mexico’s COVID-19 Red to Green Framework. The only way to do it is to keep each other as safe as possible by following these two simple rules. Of course, we also encourage everyone to wash their hands regularly, use hand sanitizer and minimize physical contact.

All of our efforts are paying off, and infections are declining both on campus and in Socorro County–increasing opportunities for local businesses to operate. We continue to broaden the scope of our efforts, including newly expanded testing opportunities on campus. And we are rolling out the new MinerSafe contact tracing app exclusively for the NMT campus.

Nevertheless, the virus has not gone away. We are all still at risk of catching and transmitting COVID-19. Therefore, we continue to maintain our requirement of masks and social distancing.

I thank you all for doing your part to help maintain a healthy environment for our students, employees, community members, and visitors.

Warmest regards,

Dr. Stephen G. Wells

President, New Mexico Tech

 

Stephen G. Wells, New Mexico Tech President