University Prepared for Contact Tracing in Fall

The University of Scranton will follow Pennsylvania Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for contact tracing of students, faculty or staff who are suspected or confirmed to have COVID-19. The Student Life Division will conduct contact tracing for students and the Office of Human Resources will conduct contact tracing for faculty and staff. The contact tracing done by the University will focus on possible exposures to the campus community and are in addition to public health contact tracing that will also occur.

University staff conducting the contact tracing will have completed the Johns Hopkins Contact Tracing Training program, which includes guidelines to follow regarding exposure determined by time and circumstances. According to the CDC, a close contact is someone who was within six feet of an infected person for at least 15 minutes starting from two days before illness onset (or, for asymptomatic patients, two days prior to specimen collection) until the time the patient is isolated.

During contact tracing, the names of individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19 or are suspected of an exposure will not be disclosed. Even the software used to facilitate contact tracing protects confidentiality.

Staff from Student Life (students) or Human Resources (faculty, staff) will contact individuals who have been identified based on the level of exposure to a person with a positive test or with symptoms awaiting a positive test. Individuals contacted may be required to be tested, or quarantine or both. Employees would contact their health care providers to coordinate testing as needed. Student Life will coordinate the testing for students if needed.

For students, spaces have been reserved specifically for isolation and quarantine. Quarantine and isolation would be temporary until students could return home for the majority of their required time in isolation/quarantine. If a student cannot return home, they may remain in a temporary housing assignment for the duration of their isolation/quarantine. Student Life staff will also work with faculty to provide support for coursework for quarantined students.

For employees who are required to quarantine, Human Resources would contact their supervisor or dean to establish remote work opportunities when feasible.

Facilities Operations would also be contacted to clean work spaces and other areas as applicable.

For more information about the University’s plans for a safe return to campus for the fall, visit Royals Safe Together: A Plan to Reopen Campus.