Dear UT Health San Antonio faculty, staff, students, residents and fellows:
With the current community COVID-19 positivity rate of 1.5%, and with nearly 77% of individuals who are 12 or older fully vaccinated, San Antonio and Bexar County have been diligent in emphasizing the criticality of COVID-19 vaccinations so that we can participate in more communal activities.
As we enter the holiday season, UT Health San Antonio provides the following guidelines that allow for more activities and events together, but that also keep us safe.
For UT Health San Antonio-sponsored events, the expectation is that our community of faculty, staff, students and trainees are fully vaccinated and that their family members are vaccinated if the family members are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
To the fullest extent possible, events should be held outside or in a space where occupancy is twice the number of individuals attending the gathering. This will enable guests to gather safely indoors and encourage greater social distancing.
All attendees are expected to monitor symptoms prior to participating in the event. Those with any symptoms like those of a cold, respiratory infection, influenza, or COVID-19 should not attend the event.
Masking guidelines do not change and are still strongly encouraged everywhere on campus. Those who are immunocompromised or have immunocompromised family or household members, or those who are not eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, may wish to not attend the event to protect themselves and their family. We also encourage wearing masks in public except while eating or drinking, as we want to mitigate a surge of COVID-19, the flu, or other respiratory illnesses that impact our community, particularly in the winter months.
When working with outside contracts at hotels or other venues, there should be an expectation that the venue’s servers and/or those in contact with attendees be masked and vaccinated and/or routinely tested.
For food service, arrangements should be made as much as possible for individually plated/packaged meals rather than buffet-style meals.
UT Health San Antonio will continue to monitor our community transmission rates and should the community positivity rate exceed 3%, this guidance may be modified.
Sincerely,
Andrea Marks
Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer