Health and Safety Update -- July 16, 2020

To all members of the Cooper Union Community:

This is the second communication in a series of weekly updates designed to keep you informed on Cooper Union’s COVID-19 planning. As of now New York City is currently in Phase 3 – to get a sense of what is open (and what restrictions are in place) you can read more about that here.

Effective Monday July 20, any person entering a Cooper Union building will be required to take their temperature, scan a QR code allowing you to answer questions about your potential exposure to COVID-19 and/or to report if you are exhibiting any COVID-19 symptoms. For those without a smartphone, there will be printed copies of the questions available. If you answer “yes” to any of the questions, or if your temperature exceeds 100.3 oF, you will not be permitted on campus and will be required to take a COVID-19 test before you can return to campus.   In addition, there are currently 22 states on a “quarantine list” – if you are traveling to New York, New Jersey or Connecticut from one of these states you will be required to isolate for 14 days and provide a negative COVID-19 test before entering the campus.

Any members of the Cooper Union community who are approved to work on campus will need to provide documentation that they have recently been tested for COVID-19 and that the results were negative. The test needs to have been performed no more than 14 days from when you intend to come to campus, and results should be sent to covidreporthr@cooper.edu. COVID-19 testing is quick, easy and covered by our health insurance. You can get tested for COVID-19 at CityMD, Walgreens, and CVS, just to name a few providers. If you live in NYC, here is a list of places to go for free testing. Please note that some test results may take up to a week so plan accordingly.

We are currently in communication with the Broad Institute to be able to offer comprehensive COVID-19 testing to all members of our community.  
 
Wishing all the best for our community, 
  
The Health and Safety Committee

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.