Responding to Confirmed COVID Cases
In order to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 on campus, St. Thomas has implemented a protocol for responding to confirmed cases of COVID-19.
All members of the St. Thomas community who are working, living, learning or otherwise spending time on campus are required to notify the Center for Well-Being if they are diagnosed with COVID-19 by submitting the student self-report form or faculty/staff self-report form, which are available on OneStThomas.
Reporting and Responding
All members of the St. Thomas community who are working, living, learning or otherwise spending time on campus are required to notify the Center for Well-Being if they are diagnosed with COVID-19 by submitting the student self-report form or faculty/staff self-report form, which are available on OneStThomas.
Faculty and staff should also notify their supervisor/department chair of their inability to come to campus using normal call-in procedures for the department.
Students who are tested at the Center for Well-Being and who consent to the sharing of their positive test results are not required to complete the self-report form.
St. Thomas will work with MDH, which will conduct contact tracing. In addition, St. Thomas will monitor for potential outbreaks.
St. Thomas will treat information as confidential and will share information only as needed to ensure compliance with public health guidelines, directives and this plan. Names of impacted individuals will never be shared in public communications.
All community members are expected to help maintain the privacy and anonymity of individuals who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 or are quarantining due to COVID-19 exposure. Individuals who are able to identify the individual based on the circumstances are expected to be discreet. For example, it is OK to share you are quarantining due to a direct contact with an individual with COVID-19, but do not share the individual’s name. We want to be respectful and supportive of all community members through this crisis.
The confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis will be reported to local and/or state health authorities by the health care provider that conducted the test, including the Center for Well-Being if it conducted the test. St. Thomas may also share the information provided by students and employees directly with MDH. St. Thomas will work closely with state and local health officials on any recommended measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19. St. Thomas community members who have been in direct contact with a person with a confirmed diagnosis may be contacted by both St. Thomas and state or local health officials as part of contact tracing efforts.
MDH will perform contact tracing with respect to off-campus close contacts. This means that if a neighbor of a student has been in contact with an infected student for a period of more than 15 minutes closer than 6 ft, they will be notified of this contact through the Minnesota Department of Health’s investigation and given guidance about isolating. The University is not allowed to share personal health data about any student.
In accordance with the Clery Act, St. Thomas will inform the community if there is a confirmed outbreak of COVID-19 on campus that could pose an immediate threat to the health or safety of the campus community. The determination of whether cases are linked and constitute an outbreak will be made in accordance with Clery Act and public health guidance. The University publishes a dashboard with weekly information regarding on-campus cases in order to keep the community updated.
Isolation and Quarantine
Any member of the St. Thomas community who is diagnosed with COVID-19 is expected to follow the CDC isolation guidelines to help protect the health of the greater community and prevent disease transmission. They should work under the care and direction of their medical provider and collaborate with campus contact tracers to determine when they are able to return to campus or to the classroom. In general, individuals are expected to stay home until they have been fever-free for 24 hours (without use of medicine that reduces fever) and at least 10 days have passed since symptoms first appeared and other symptoms have improved.
All members of the St. Thomas community should comply with recommendations to stay home and quarantine if feeling sick.
Testing
The Center for Well-Being is currently prioritizing testing of symptomatic patients for COVID-19 using molecular (PCR) tests; asymptomatic testing may be available at the Center for Well Being as space permits. Additional contact tracing/expanded testing of asymptomatic individuals may be utilized in specific situations, such as localized clusters of COVID-19 cases on campus and other appropriate situations. St. Thomas will continue to work with MDH to provide options for mass-testing events and targeted testing of areas of concern.
The Center for Well-Being has partnered with University of Minnesota/Mayo Lab System as well as Quest Diagnostics to ensure that there is adequate access to testing supplies and services in the event that recommendations change and expanded testing is recommended.
Faculty and staff who are sick should contact their primary health care provider for testing. In addition, the Minnesota Department of Health currently has several free testing sites available and is offering free at-home tests. See the MDH website for additional information.
Important: All individuals who are notified of a positive test result must notify St. Thomas using the self-reporting forms on OneStThomas:
Planning for Potential Surge in Cases or Closing
The university has developed plans to respond to a possible surge in cases on campus or in the community. Such plans will be consistent with public health guidance and directives. A surge in cases or other external factors may impact campus operations, including changes to dining hall or residence hall operations, changes to service levels or building hours, or a possible need to place additional or all classes online and closure of some residence hall(s). Factors that will be considered include government directives, the level of transmission, options for reducing transmission risks, community compliance with protocols and the ability of the university to effectively manage on-campus cases. A list of “Key Considerations” for changes in operation is available.
In the event that a surge in cases locally or nationally causes St. Thomas to put some or all classes online, tuition and fees will not be refunded.
NOTE: All information on this webpage comes from the COVID-19 Response Plan document. If you have questions about what you read here, please refer to the latest version of that document.