COVID-19 Updates January 5, 2022

COVID-19 Campus Exposure Procedure: Updated January 4, 2022

If you have had:

Contact of less than 6 feet for 15 minutes or longer with an individual who has symptoms
Contact with an individual who has tested positive for COVID-19 (laboratory-confirmed) but has not had any symptoms

What to do:

Report exposure to your instructor (if you are a student) or to your supervisor (if you are an employee) immediately.
If you are not vaccinated, stay away from others for 5 days, get tested on day 5 after exposure, and if you test negative, return to normal activities while wearing a mask for 5 additional days.
If you are vaccinated and eligible for a booster, but have not yet been boosted, stay away from others for 5 days, get tested on day 5 after exposure, and if you test negative, return to normal activities while wearing a mask for 5 additional days.
If you are vaccinated, and have either received your booster or are not yet eligible for a booster, you do not need to stay away from others, but you should wear a mask for 10 days.

If you have:

Been tested for COVID-19 by a healthcare professional and received a positive diagnosis regardless of vaccination status but are currently not experiencing symptoms

What to do:

Report diagnosis to your instructor (if you are a student) or to your supervisor (if you are an employee) immediately.
The CDC guidelines recommend that you isolate yourself from others for 5 days, and then wear a mask for 5 additional days when you return to normal activities.
Follow your healthcare provider’s directions for follow-up testing and CDC guidelines for monitoring your symptoms. (Monitoring includes watching for symptoms and checking your temperature every twelve hours)

If you have:

Been tested for COVID-19 by a healthcare professional and received a positive diagnosis regardless of vaccination status and are currently experiencing symptoms

What to do:

Report diagnosis to your instructor (if you are a student) or to your supervisor (if you are an employee) immediately.
CDC guidelines recommend that you isolate yourself from others until you are fever-free and symptoms are improving (without fever for 24 hours). You should isolate for at least 5 days since your symptoms began.
Once you stop isolating, you should wear a mask for 5 additional days.
Follow your healthcare provider’s directions for treatment of your symptoms.

If you have:

Been tested for COVID-19 by a healthcare professional and received a negative diagnosis and are currently experiencing symptoms

What to do:

Report symptoms to your instructor (if you are a student) or to your supervisor (if you are an employee) immediately.
Stay away from campus until your symptoms have improved and you are without fever for 24 hours.

Students and employees will immediately notify their Instructors or supervisors. The instructor or supervisor will then follow the COVID-19 Campus Exposure Reporting Requirements process for reporting to NCC’s COVID Response.
Within 48 hours, NCC’s COVID Response will communicate with executive leadership and initiate communication to any potentially impacted college community members, maintaining appropriate confidentiality, while ensuring any college student or employee who may have potentially been exposed is promptly notified so that they can self-monitor.
Individuals who initiated the response may be asked to assist with contact tracing. This information will be tracked separately from personnel and student records, and names will not be released.
The college may elect to close an impacted classroom or office for a period up to 72 hours following a confirmed case to allow for natural deactivation of the virus.
You may be asked to provide documentation from your healthcare provider that you are cleared to return to school or work.
NC Division of Public Health recommends the following definition for reporting clusters of COVID-19 in workplace, educational, and other community settings. A cluster is defined as a minimum of five cases with illness onsets or initial positive results within a 14-day period AND plausible epidemiologic linkage between cases.