Screening, Testing, and Tracing

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Testing
Screening
Quarantine
Contact Tracing

The health and safety of Fordham’s students, faculty, administrators and staff remain the highest priority in developing plans in alignment with NYS guidelines. In restarting Fordham’s university campuses, four factors underly the protocols: Testing; Screening/Monitoring; Contact Tracing; and Isolation/Quarantine. Each of these factors will ensure that we can closely gauge the health of members of the Fordham community as well as create a safe and immediate response in the event of illness. All information is kept confidential and follows privacy laws.

 

Testing

The University has instituted mandatory universal testing for all faculty, students and staff who were tested twice in the first month of the fall semester: once upon arrival and again after a two-week period. The University will conduct two more rounds of mandatory testing this semester for students, faculty, and staff on campus.

We will provide on-campus testing for students and employees with results within 24 hours, or as quickly as possible thereafter.

Employees:  Please see the Employees FAQ for more testing information.

Students:  Please see the Students and Families FAQ for more testing information.

 

Screening and Daily Monitoring

The University is partnering with VitalCheck, a screening program, to perform health screening of all Fordham students, faculty, staff and administrators returning to campus.

Each individual will respond to a series of questions on their smart phone, or by email if one does not have access to a smartphone. This self-certification process must be performed prior to each time they arrive on campus. Members of the Fordham community will need to show clearance from the screening program each time they reenter campus. This clearance will be sent to the Fordham community member via text and email after they have responded to that day’ questions on their smartphone or via email. 

If a person is not immediately cleared by the VitalCheck team, he/she will receive a communication advising them of the need for a medical clearance from either a VitalCheck physician or their own personal physician. 

Visitors or guests to Fordham will need to be screened prior to being given access to campus. Some guests may be pre-screened before arrival on campus. Contract vendors who work on campus daily or on a regular basis, as well as other vendors that frequent campus, will be required to adhere to Vendor COVID-19 Guidelines which includes screening. 

Learn more about the VitalCheck screening program.

 

Quarantine

As of July 20, New York State requires that students from states appearing on New York State's mandatory quarantine list will not be permitted to come to campus without documentation of 14 day quarantine in a state that does not appear on the list.  Please see the Students and Families FAQ for more information.

International travel is an evolving situation. Fordham will follow the CDC’s recommendation that people quarantine for 14 days upon arrival in the USA from international travel.

Anyone who has tested positive for COVID-19 will be required to self-isolate for an amount of time prescribed by the Department of Health or their physician. Close contacts to the infected individual will be directed to quarantine themselves so as to prevent further spread. Provisions for self-isolation and quarantine are as follows:

• Commuter and resident students who are able to travel to their homes will be directed to isolate or quarantine at their off-campus residences.
• Residents with a positive test for COVID-19 who are unable to travel home will be isolated in designated residence hall rooms. Residents who are symptomatic or have been exposed to a COVID-19 positive individual will quarantine in their rooms pending their test result if possible. We will supplement these spaces as needed with off campus accommodations.
• We have made provisions to provide ongoing support services, medical oversight through health services and food delivery to isolated students.
• Employees who become ill on campus will be provided with guidance by Human Resources and/or Public Safety on how to isolate/return home, as well as quarantine requirements.

 

Contact Tracing

When an individual has tested positive for COVID-19, contact tracing tracks down anyone who might have been exposed to the infected individual for long enough to have put them at risk of infection. In coordination with the NYC and NYS contact tracing programs, Fordham will deploy its own contact tracing program. Fordham students, faculty, or staff who have received a positive test for COVID-19 will be contacted by a contact tracer and asked to share details of any close contact (defined as anyone they have been within 6 feet for 10 or more minutes during the four days prior to the positive test result or the four days prior to the first onset of symptoms, whichever period is longer). Contacts will be notified by the contact tracer of their exposure and will be provided guidance regarding quarantine and testing.

COVID Alert NY

Fordham strongly recommends that all members of the University community add the COVID Alert NY contact tracing app to their smartphones. COVID Alert NY is a voluntary, anonymous, exposure-notification smartphone app. You will get an alert if you were in close contact with someone who tests positive for COVID-19. The app keeps personal information confidential and does not track your movements.