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Covid-19 Support

Covid-19 Information

Quarantine and Isolation 

UCSC students and employees who test positive for COVID-19 with a laboratory test or home test and those who are close contacts to cases will need to follow campus isolation instructions.

Reporting COVID-19 

COVID-19 requires all of us to be even more attentive to our health, regularly checking for symptoms associated with the virus.

For employees: Continue to self-assess your health status and possible COVID symptoms each day before coming to a UCSC owned or leased facility. If you experience COVID-19 symptoms, stay home, contact your healthcare provider and inform your supervisor.

If a COVID-19 positive test result is received please follow the COVID-19 positive test result instructions for employees.

Face Coverings 

Masks are not required for most indoor settings at UC Santa Cruz facilities, but their use is still strongly recommended. California Department of Public Health and Cal/OSHA guidelines both state that individuals who test positive for COVID-19 must mask for 10 days following a positive test as applicable. Asymptomatic exposed individuals must mask for 10 days following an identified close contact to someone with COVID-19.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has announced beginning March 8, 2024 the Free Covid-19 Test Program will be suspended. To obtain COVID-19 Tests:

  • You may place COVID-19 Test Program requests until March 8, 2024 https://special.usps.com/testkits
  • Buy tests online or in pharmacies and retail stores. Private Health Insurance may reimburse the cost of purchasing self tests.
  • Santa Cruz Health Services Agency has nearby testing locations. Find a nearby testing location at : MyTurn.ca.gov.

Travel

Travelers should follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) travel guidance. The CDC provides regarding domestic travel as well as international travel.

Events and Guests

Consider testing before and 3-5 days after a gathering, a large event or travel, especially if you are going to be around people who are higher risk (older adults, immunocomprimised, and unvaccinated people).

Vaccines

COVID-19 Vaccination Requirements

On August 16, 2023, the University of California released an updated Policy on Vaccination Programs - With Interim Revisions. The UC Santa Cruz COVID-19 vaccine requirements now consist of an opt-out program. Covered individuals must be Up-To-Date on Vaccines or receive Vaccine Education and timely complete and submit the online secure attestation form. For new employees, the deadline for initial compliance is within 14 days of the first date of employment.

A covered individual is Up-To-Date when they have received all doses of a Vaccine as recommended by the CDC and CDPH. A person need not obtain doses that are authorized but not explicitly recommended by CDC and CDPH in order to be considered Up-To-Date.

Vaccine Education is communication of the following information about a Vaccine-preventable illness through any combination of Vaccine Information Statements, other written information, verbal communications, or online or in-person training programs as required.

  1. The potential health consequences of Vaccine-preventable illness for Covered Individuals, family
    members and other contacts, coworkers, patients and the community
  2. Occupational exposure to Vaccine-preventable disease
  3. The epidemiology and modes of transmission, diagnosis, and (Non-Pharmaceutical
    Interventions) NPIs, consistent with the Covered Individual’s level of responsibility in preventing
    Vaccine-preventable infections
  4. The potential benefits of vaccination
  5. The safety profile and risks of the Vaccine.

COVID-19 Up-To-Date on Vaccines or Vaccine Declination

All employees are required to complete the Up-To-Date on Vaccines or Received Vaccine Education Attestation Form for Staff and Academic Employees. If you are a staff member with questions about the vaccine policy and whether it applies to your situation, you can email incident@ucsc.edu.

Contact Tracing 

Covid-19 Contact Tracing Process:

Please follow the following steps to self-report COVID-19 exposure or confirmed cases.

  1. Notify your supervisor or manager of your COVID-19 exposure.
  2. Apprise your healthcare provider of your COVID-19 status.

For Supervisors and Managers:

Please follow the following steps to report an employee’s COVID-19 exposure or confirmed case.

  1. Notify Risk Services to apprise of potential exposure or positive case.
    1. Cindy Delgado, Director, Risk Services, (831) 459-1787, cadelgad@ucsc.edu or Michelle Sohnlein, Workers' Compensation & Occupational Disability Manager, (831) 459-2850, msohnlei@ucsc.edu.
  2. Provide Risk Services with the following information:
    1. Name of employee
    2. Contact information
    3. Date of Positive Test
    4. Location on campus where employee last worked and date
    5. The names of any co-workers that may have been in “Close Contact” with the employee
      in the past week. The name of the employee will not be revealed, alluded to, or
      confirmed per the CDC and the ADA. "Close contacts" are informed through the campus
      contact tracing process, in conjunction with the County Public Health Department.
      According to the Cal/OSHA standard and the CDPH, in indoor spaces of 400,000 or fewer
      cubic feet per floor (such as home, clinic waiting room, airplane etc.), close contact is
      defined as sharing the same indoor airspace for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or
      more over a specific 24-hour period.  In large indoor spaces greater than 400,000 cubic
      feet per floor (such as open-floor-plan offices, warehouses, large retail stores,
      manufacturing, or food processing facilities), close contact is defined as being within 6
      feet of the COVID-19 individual for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a
      specific 24-hour period.

Once the information is received, Risk Services will do three things: contact the employee to conduct the contact tracing process; provide the employee with information regarding the isolation period and next steps; and send out necessary notices to the employee’s supervisor, and Staff HR, as applicable.

For Questions

Contact Cindy Delgado at cadelgad@ucsc.edu or 831-459-1787.

Contact Michelle Söhnlein at msohnlei@ucsc.edu or 831-459-2850.