SAN ANTONIO — Trinity University announced Wednesday it will extend the winter break and delay the start of the spring semester due to the spread of COVID-19 in the community.
In a Facebook post Wednesday afternoon, the university said classes will start on January 31. The campus said spring break dates will not be affected but Trinity will be republishing its Spring 2022 calendar to account for the changes.
All but the most essential employees and those who cannot work at home will be asked to work remotely until January 17, the university said.
The university also posted its reopening plan to prevent the spread of COVID-19 once students and staff return to the campus.
This comes as COVID-19 is increasing through the community, as well as the omicron variant. The CDC says omicron is more contagious and spreads faster than the original SARS-COV-2 virus and the other variants.
The most recent numbers from San Antonio Metro Health showed a slight increase in cases heading into the Christmas holiday.
On December 23, 376 new daily cases were reported, with total cases at 334,055. Also that day, there were 200 hospitalizations and the seven-day moving average was at 319.
COVID-19 testing is also in short supply due to increased demand. Store shelves in San Antonio are out of in-home testing kits and people are reporting hours-long lines to get tested at testing locations.