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COVID-19 Exposure & Reporting

UC students are required to report via the UC COVID Check App if they test positive for COVID-19, devlop viral symptoms, or have a known exposure to a COVID-positive person. While not required, faculty, staff and visitors are strongly encouraged to report the same. 

Download the COVID Check App

COVID-19 Symptoms

  • One of the following: new cough, shortness of breath, loss of taste or smell
    OR
  • Two of the following: sore throat, vomiting and/or diarrhea, aching throughout the body, headache, fatigue not due to a known cause such as insufficient sleep.

Symptom and Exposure Guidelines

The university has developed the below guidelines to assist students, as well as faculty and staff, with appropriate action steps if they become symptomatic or have had close contact with an individual who has tested positive for COVID-19.

Experiencing COVID-19 Symptoms

  1. Stay home and isolate.
  2. Report using the COVID-Check app, notify your health care provider and your supervisor (if applicable). A member of UC’s COVID Check Response Team will contact you within several hours to collect information and provide next steps, including testing.
  3. Isolate except to get tested for COVID-19 as directed by your health care provider and/or UC’s COVID Check Response Team.
  4. If you are tested at an off-campus testing location, report your test results using the COVID-Check app.

Exposed to Someone Positive for COVID-19

Close contact is defined as being within 6ft of an individual positive with COVID-19 for 15-minutes or more over a 24-hour period.

  1. Report using the COVID-Check app
  2. If exposure has occurred, quarantine is no longer recommended by the CDC for most individuals. However, for at least 10 full days after exposure you should take extra precautions such as masking.

Tested Positive for COVID-19

  1. Stay home and isolate.
  2. Report using the COVID-Check app, notify your health care provider and your supervisor (if applicable). A member of UC’s Contact Tracing Team will typically contact you within 24-hours (see above) to collect information and provide next steps. Once a positive test is reported the contact tracing process is initiated.
  3. If you are tested for COVID-19 at an on-campus testing site your results will automatically be shared with UC’s COVID Check Response Team.
  4. UC’s COVID Check Team will follow-up with you often. Students will also receive outreach from Student Affairs. It is important to answer your phone and check your emails. 
  5. UC’s COVID Check Response Team will call or email with next steps when your isolation period ends.

Identified as a Close Contact

  1. Answer the call from contact tracers from UC’s COVID Check Response Team to help stop the spread of the virus.
  2. Monitor your health and if you develop symptoms report using the COVID Check app.
  3. Get tested on the fifth day after your exposure. 

Experiencing COVID-19 Symptoms

  1. Stay home and isolate.
  2. Faculty and staff are expected to report using the COVID-Check app. You should also notify your health care provider and your supervisor. Once reported via the app, a member of UC’s COVID Check Response Team will contact you within several hours to collect information and provide next steps, including testing.
  3. Get tested for COVID-19 as directed by your health care provider and/or UC’s COVID Check Response Team. 
  4. If you are tested at an off-campus testing location, report your test results using the COVID-Check app.

Exposed to Someone Positive for COVID-19

Close contact is defined as being within 6ft of an individual positive with COVID-19 for 15-minutes or more over a 24-hour period.

  1. Faculty and staff are expected to report using the COVID-Check app.
  2. If exposure has occurred quarantine is no longer recommended by the CDC. However, for at least 10 full days you should take extra preautions such as masking. You may continue to work as long as you do not have symptoms and must self-monitor for symptoms.

Tested Positive for COVID-19

  1. Stay home and isolate.
  2. Faculty and staff are expected to report using the COVID-Check app. You should also notify your health care provider and your supervisor. Once reported via the app, a member of UC’s Contact Tracing Team will typically contact you within 24-hours (see above) to collect information and provide next steps. Once a positive test is reported the contact tracing process is initiated.
  3. If you are tested for COVID-19 at an on-campus testing site your results will automatically be shared with UC’s COVID Check Response Team.
  4. Contact tracers will contact you to determine close contacts and if those individuals must be notified and/or quarantine. This depends on social distance, duration of expose and vaccination status.  Your name and test result will not be shared with these individuals.
  5. UC’s COVID Check Team will follow-up with you often. It is important to answer your phone and check your emails.
  6. UC’s COVID Check Response Team will call or email with next steps when your isolation period ends.

Identified as a Close Contact

  1. Answer the call from contact tracers from UC’s COVID Check Response Team to help stop the spread of the virus.
  2. Monitor your health and if you develop symptoms report using the COVID Check app.
  3. Get tested on the fifth day after your exposure.

Report Vaccination Status

Proof of vaccination can be voluntarily submitted using the COVID Check app or the web-based version of the UC COVID Check app as well as email to ucovidcheck@ucmail.uc.edu. You will need to submit a photo of the front and back of your vaccination card.

If the submitted documentation is incomplete or if there seem to be errors, we may request that a student voluntarily request their medical provider to provide them with a vaccine print-out.

If any voluntarily submitted vaccination documentation were found to be deliberately falsified, that would potentially be referred to OSCCS.

Report Vaccination Booster

Students, faculty and staff may voluntarily submit booster dose information via email to uccovidcheck@ucmail.uc.edu:

  • Name
  • Date received booster dose
  • Brand/type of booster (eg- Pfizer, Moderna)

The UC COVID Response Team will maintain the vaccination information in a secure database and will use it in accordance with FERPA and the UC Privacy Statement to monitor the health and vaccination status of the UC community.  

Privacy

All information gathered through the university’s reporting process will be stored in a secure database and used in accordance with FERPA and UC’s Privacy Statement. The reporting requirement will allow University Health Services/the COVID Response Team to provide education, guidance and care monitoring; and to make decisions regarding campus safety and mitigation measures.