Weekly COVID-19 Update- Jan. 19, 2022
Fellow Gamecocks,
We hope your first week back went well. We’ve heard some concerns and questions from several of you and wanted to clarify our campus protocols for self-reporting and ensuring a safe return to campus.
Our contact tracing team is still in place and is working hard to quickly communicate with those who self-report. The team is following guidelines as outlined by the Centers for Disease Control. Those guidelines are detailed below.
If you are exposed to someone who has COVID-19, and you are unvaccinated, partially vaccinated, completed your Pfizer or Moderna series more than five months ago or completed Johnson & Johnson's vaccine more than two months ago (eligible but not boosted), we ask that you:
• Email covidquestions@jsu.edu the details of your exposure and any questions you may have.
• Stay home for 5 full days after your last exposure (the date of exposure is day 0)
• Test on day 5 (if testing resources are in ample supply and available)
• If you are free of symptoms, upon your return to campus, wear a well-fitting, well-lined mask for the 5 additional days through day 10 after exposure.
If you have been boosted, completed your primary series (two doses) of Pfizer or Moderna within the last five months or completed the J&J series within the last two months, you are asked to:
• Wear a well-fitting, well-lined mask for the full 10 days after your exposure (the date of your last exposure to the positive is day 0)
• Test on day 5, if testing resources are in ample supply and available
• If you develop new symptoms, seek a test immediately.
If you develop symptoms, seek a test immediately. Symptoms are now very broad and can range from cough, sore throat, fatigue, runny or stuffy nose, headache, or the other COVID-19 symptoms.
If you test positive for COVID-19 on or off-campus, regardless of vaccination status, we ask you to:
• Complete the Self-Reporting Form, available on the COVID-19 website
• Isolate and stay home, not sharing bathrooms or common areas with others in your household, for a minimum of 5 days.
• If you have symptoms, the first day of symptoms is day 0. Isolation could be extended up to 10 days based on symptoms. Our contact tracers will review symptoms before releasing from isolation.
• After Day 5, if you are fever-free for 24 hours (without fever-reducing medication) and your symptoms are not lingering, you may return to campus, if you wear a well-fitting, well-lined mask around other individuals for the 5 additional days, through day 10
• If you have no symptoms, the day you test positive is day 0. After Day 5, if you remain symptom free, you may return to campus if you wear a well-fitting, well-lined mask around other individuals for the five additional days, through day 10.
Yesterday, the US government announced the availability of free at-home COVID-19 test kits. Each home is eligible to request four free kits. Visit www.covidtests.gov to place your order today.
Please know that our contact tracers and task force members are here to continue to support you, answer your questions, and help you determine when it is safe to return to activities.
In Service,
Michael S. Barton
Director of Public Safety & COVID Task Force Leader