Updates to Campus Quarantine and Isolation Protocols – Jan. 26, 2022

By | January 27, 2022
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The College of Charleston community received the following message on Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022, regarding campus quarantine and isolation protocols:

Dear Campus Community,

We are happy to share a positive trend we are seeing, both here on campus and across the country. The latest medical evidence continues to suggest that while perhaps more transmissible, the Omicron variant generally causes less harmful symptoms and cases. The majority of our students and employees infected by COVID-19 since January 1, 2022, have reported experiencing no symptoms or a mild case, which is due in large part to the fact that nearly 80 percent of our students are fully vaccinated.

In the spirit of continual adaptation in our approach to COVID-19 and given the current environment presented by the Omicron variant, the College is making some changes to its quarantine and isolation protocols.

Our number-one priority remains the health and wellbeing of our entire campus community. These updated protocols are in alignment with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control and the American College Health Association and are also in line with adjustments recently made by other universities: 

  • All students and employees who test positive are responsible for notifying their close contacts about their exposure. 
    • Remember: Those who have tested positive, regardless of vaccination status, must still isolate away from campus for 5 days (this particular isolation protocol has not changed).  
  • All students and employees who self-report a positive case or self-report a close contact of a positive case will continue receiving communication with directions for isolation or quarantine procedures from our campus contact-tracing team.  
  • Only asymptomatic close contacts can be present on campus. If you have symptoms, you must test prior to circulating on campus to ensure you are not positive for COVID-19. Even if you test negative, you MUST wear a well-fitted mask for 10 days post-exposure anytime you are around others.

Please refer to this earlier message from the College for more details about quarantine and isolation protocols and other guidelines for the Spring ’22 semester.

The best way to continue to protect yourself and others from the impacts of COVID-19 is to get vaccinated and boosted, which you can continue to do through weekly clinics on campus. 

Sincerely,

CofC COVID-19 Leadership Team