As we remain laser-focused on creating and maintaining a safe environment for colleagues, here are a few COVID-19 reminders:

• Testing even when campus visits are brief – Just a quick pick up?  Yes, please take a COVID test.  There have been reports that some people are being told they do not have to test if they are just picking up a book from the library or some other quick action on campus.  This is not true.  As always, for any visit to campus related to work, faculty and staff must plan to submit a Health check and take a COVID test through the Color system.  If the campus visit is for personal reasons, such as going to the gym, a Health Check (also required by DAPER) must be submitted, but no test is required. If the gym visit is followed by an office or library visit, a test is required.

• Allergy reporting in Health Check – Especially with allergy season coming up, people are wondering if they really need to report every sore throat and headache in Health Check if these are symptoms they regularly experience at this time of year for other reasons. The answer is yes — please report all symptoms accurately. There are follow-up questions about how severe they are and whether they’re normal for you. If Health Check does decide these symptoms warrant a red badge, a clinician from OHC/Vaden will follow up quickly (within 1-2 hours) with a phone call to discuss further and return your badge to green if appropriate. Be sure to complete a Health Check at least one hour before coming to campus.

• Continuing to test after vaccination – As people are starting to get vaccinated, questions are coming up about whether people who are fully vaccinated still need to follow our COVID policies around surveillance testing, wearing face coverings, maintaining social distance, etc. The answer is yes — there’s no change in these requirements based on vaccination status. This is for a few reasons — vaccinations aren’t 100% effective, and we don’t yet know whether vaccinated people can be asymptomatic transmitters. We also don’t have a way to know who has been vaccinated. We know it’s been a long slog, but please continue to mask, test, and all the rest!

Please do not hesitate to contact Human Resources with questions or concerns.