The university is among few other institutions that are not transparent about case spread on campus
Despite the precedent other major Ontario post-secondary institutions have set when it comes to COVID-19 communications with staff, faculty and students, Ryerson continues to keep their community in the dark.
In Ontario, 17 out of the 23 universities update their official COVID-19 webpages routinely, sharing the number of COVID-19 cases confirmed on campus as they become aware. When asked why Ryerson won’t follow their lead, Lindsey Craig, the university spokesperson, said their priority is “contacting and supporting community members who may have been in contact with a confirmed case.”
The schools differentiate by routinely updating COVID-19 dashboards, press releases, announcements, and dedicated web pages. Each of these methods details when and where a positive case was confirmed, whether they occurred on, or sometimes even off-campus. Ryerson is in the minority of schools in the province that are not transparent with their COVID-19 communications.
Currently, those who may have been in contact with a positive case are notified directly and are provided guidance to assess their individual risk, according to Ryerson’s Reporting on COVID-19 cases page. Investigations are conducted when a potential transmission has taken place on campus.
“The current reporting system has been and continues to be successful in managing Ryerson’s low number of COVID-19 cases connected to campus,” said Craig in an email that echoed the same statements sent to the Ryersonian last week.
Updated COVID-19 cases associated with on-campus persons aren’t regularly disclosed to the Ryerson community. This lack of information prompted calls from the Ryerson Faculty Association and CUPE Local 3094 looking for more transparent COVID-19 communications. At last count, 17 cases to date have been connected to Ryerson’s campus.
