Dear UT Health San Antonio faculty, staff and learners:
As a result of the unprecedented spike in COVID-19 cases fueled by the fast-moving omicron variant, UT Health San Antonio is executing the following actions to help keep our employees and learners safe and help avert an even worse surge that is already overwhelming urgent care centers and emergency departments in our community.
- Monitor your symptoms BEFORE you come to work or school. Do not come to work/class with respiratory symptoms.
- Classroom instruction will be conducted either in-person, virtually or with a hybrid modality, depending on the specific academic program requirements.
- In-person teaching and clinical care will continue, but masking is required in those settings.
- Masks are to be worn on campus in all academic, office and lab settings. Precautions should be taken to ensure masks are worn consistently and appropriately. Surgical masks or K-N95 masks are preferred over cloth masks. See more information below on how to acquire masks.
- Conduct as many meetings as possible virtually.
- Execute a work-from-home strategy (for those departments/units that have a plan) through Jan. 14, 2022.
- Domestic business travel is highly discouraged through January 2022. Departments, at their discretion, will need to postpone or cancel any previously approved trips. If domestic travel is mission critical, please use extreme caution.
- International travel is prohibited until further notice.
- Postpone large events until further notice. Departments, at their discretion, will need to work through Purchasing to cancel any previously executed contracts.
- Discontinue offering food at meetings until further notice.
- Continue diligent hand hygiene.
- Get the booster as soon as you can.
Obtaining disposable surgical masks:
- Academic, research and administrative departments can obtain disposable masks at no charge by contacting General Stores and indicating “Per updated COVID-19 safety protocol measures” with the request. Patient-facing clinical staff should continue to obtain disposable masks through normal clinical inventory processes.
Also, in response to the CDC’s latest recommendations, the following guidelines on COVID-19 testing and quarantining practices have been updated. The information below is for both employees and students/learners.
If you are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms:
- Call your supervisor or professor to let them know you will be out due to illness. Schedule a COVID-19 test at UT Health San Antonio. Walk-in appointments for testing are discouraged due to significant volume. Please email or call to schedule a testing appointment time.
- Stay home and wait for testing appointment/results.
- You will be able to view test results via MyChart by 11 p.m. the same day.
If you have a high-risk exposure:
- For those who do not have COVID-19 symptoms and who have received 2 doses of Pfizer or Moderna OR 1 dose of J&J and a booster dose, you can continue to work or go to school with no restrictions. You must self-monitor for symptoms, wear a mask, practice appropriate social distancing, use proper hand hygiene and wear all appropriate PPE. A COVID-19 test is not required.
- For those who do not have COVID-19 symptoms and have received a complete COVID-19 vaccination series (2 doses of Pfizer or Moderna or 1 dose of J&J), but NOT a booster dose, you can continue to work or go to school. You must self-monitor for symptoms, wear a mask, practice appropriate social distancing, use proper hand hygiene and wear all appropriate PPE. You should be tested between 5-7 days from the original exposure by scheduling online.
- If you develop symptoms, you should stay home and request a test through the online scheduling portal regardless of the amount of time it has been since the exposure occurred.
If you test positive for COVID-19:
- For those that received their COVID-19 test through Wellness 360, the Wellness 360 team will call you to provide test results that are also available through MyChart.
- For those that received their COVID-19 test through Wellness 360, the Wellness 360 team will instruct you on how to isolate, monitor symptoms and care for yourself.
- Regardless of where you got tested, call your supervisor or instructor(s) to let them know you are sick and reach out each day you are home to let them know your status.
- If you had your testing at UT Health San Antonio, you will receive information from Wellness 360 on guidelines for returning to work/school. If you had testing elsewhere and may not have informed UT Health San Antonio about the positive test result, you must be cleared by a provider before returning to work/school. You can also contact Wellness 360 to be cleared.
- For mild or no symptoms: Employee/Student must be five days from initial symptom onset (or test date, if asymptomatic) AND 24 hours with no fever without the use of fever-reducing medication. Symptoms should be completely or almost completely resolved.
- For moderate to severe symptoms: Employee/Student must be 10 days from initial symptom onset AND 24 hours with no fever without the use of fever-reducing medication and all symptoms are improving.
- When you are deemed no longer infectious, Wellness 360 will provide you with a Return-to-Work/School form that you will share with your supervisor/instructor(s) when reporting back to work/classroom. If you had testing elsewhere and may not have informed UT Health San Antonio about the positive test result, you must be cleared by a provider before returning to work/school. You can also contact Wellness 360 to be cleared.
- You may email covid-19@uthscsa.edu or call (210) 567-2788 to request return to work/school clearance.
If you test negative for COVID-19:
- If you received your test at UT Health San Antonio, test results will be available in MyChart. You may return to work/school if you have no symptoms and have been without medication for 24 hours.
- If you test negative but are experiencing symptoms and they have not resolved or have worsened, call your primary care physician, or seek immediate care if needed.
Due to patient volume, contact tracing is not being provided at this time. You may email covid-19@uthscsa.edu with questions.
Sincerely,
Andrea Marks
Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer