Guilford community celebrates with ice cream and snow cones
On Wednesday, Sept. 29, the Guilford community celebrated consistently low COVID-19 case numbers with ice cream and snow cones. Two tents were set up outside Founders Hall — one offering students, faculty, and staff cups of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, the other offering Pelican’s SnoBalls.
Testing clinics from the two weeks before the event yielded a very low number of positive cases, with only four positive cases out of 975 on Sept. 13 and 14, and zero positive cases on Sept. 21.
“… In recognition of the really good work we are doing to keep Guilford safe and healthy, I want to invite you to an informal community gathering to eat Pelican’s SnoBalls, Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, and/or pastries, drink coffee, and socialize (carefully, of course!)” Interim President Jim Hood said in his Sept. 24 email to the Guilford community.
Students lined up outside Founders to enjoy this sweet treat, hang out with one another in the sun, and celebrate Guilford’s success at keeping the virus at bay.
Ironically, on the same day, there was a jump in COVID cases that resulted in a positivity rate of nearly 11 percent—the highest Guilford has seen all semester. The spike has since been resolved, with only a 1 percent positivity rate reported from mandatory Oct. 4 and 5 testing clinics.
