COVID-19 Quarantine and Isolation

  • Isolation separates sick people with a contagious disease from people who are not sick.
  • Quarantine separates and restricts the movement of people who were exposed to a contagious disease to see if they become sick.

Resident Students

If you have been exposed to COVID-19 on campus, someone from Counseling and Health Services (CHS) will call and ask you to stay at home, away from others, and self-quarantine:

  • If you do not have any symptoms, you will be encouraged to quarantine at home, if you are able to do so safely.
  • If you will be quarantining on campus, CHS will also help you set up meal delivery, symptom tracking, and remote learning.
  • This does not mean that you are COVID-19 positive but that you could develop COVID19 over the incubation period of the COVID-19 virus, which is 2-14 days. However, since you could become infectious at any point during your quarantine, it is crucial that you do not quarantine with other individuals to prevent unknowingly infected others, even other students who may also be quarantining.
  • As part of quarantine, we will follow public health guidance, which will likely result in some repeat COVID testing during your quarantine period.
  • If at any point you develop symptoms or do test positive, you will need to isolate and CHS will follow up with you regularly for monitoring of your symptoms and condition. If you are unable to safely isolate at home, you will likely be re-located to on campus isolation housing in Bates.
  • If you test positive, contact tracers from CHS will be in touch to gather information from you about any close contacts classes, programs, jobs, or other places you might have attended during your infectious period and potentially exposed others. You will likely also be contacted by the Salem Board of health so that they can collect information from you about your off campus close contacts, places of employment, and other activities.

Commuter Students with On-Campus Classes, Jobs or In-Person Field Placements

  • Similar to resident students, if you have been exposed to COVID-19 on campus, someone from Counseling and Health Services (CHS) will call and ask you to stay at home, away from others, and self-quarantine at home.
  • If you do not have any symptoms, CHS will work with you to ensure you have what you need to safely quarantine at home for at least 14 days, including access to food, prescription medications, technology for remote learning, symptom monitoring, etc.
  • Being exposed to COVID-19 does not mean that you are COVID-19 positive but that you could develop an infection over the incubation period of the COVID-19 virus, which is 2-14 days. You should consider yourself infectious during the entire duration of your quarantine and stay away from all others, including any household members, to all extents feasible.
  • As part of quarantine, we will follow public health guidance, which will likely result in possible repeat COVID testing during your quarantine period.
  • If at any point you develop symptoms or do test positive, you will need to isolate and CHS will follow up with you regularly for monitoring of your symptoms and condition.
  • If you test positive, contact tracers from CHS will be in touch to gather information from you about any close contacts, classes, programs, jobs, or other places you might have attended during your infectious period and could have potentially exposed others. You will likely also be contacted by the Board of health in your town of residence, so that they can collect information from you about your off campus close contacts, places of employment, and other activities.

Commuter Students Taking only Remote Classes

  • You should notify CHS if you’ve tested positive or have been identified as a close contact of someone else who’s tested positive.
  • If you have been on campus, we will collect on campus close contact and location information.
  • You will be contacted by the board of health in your town of residence, to collect information from you about your off campus close contacts, places of employment, and other activities and initiate and oversee your quarantine or isolation.
  • CHS will work with you to provide support through your quarantine or isolation and ensure that you have what you need to safely quarantine or isolate at home, including access to food, prescription medications, technology for remote learning, symptom monitoring, etc.
  • Being exposed to COVID-19 does not mean that you are COVID-19 positive but that you could develop an infection over the incubation period of the COVID-19 virus, which is 2-14 days. You should consider yourself infectious during the entire duration of your quarantine and stay away from all others, including any household members, to all extents feasible.

Faculty and Staff

  • You should notify HR if you’ve tested positive or have been identified as a close contact of someone else who’s tested positive.
  • You will be contacted by the board of health in your town of residence, to collect information from you about your off campus close contacts, places of employment, and other activities and initiate and oversee your quarantine or isolation.
  • HR will work with you to collect information about any on campus close contacts or activities you might have attended during your infectious period. They are also available to provide guidance through your quarantine or isolation related to your employment.
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