A current update on USD and COVID-19

The state of the university and the pandemic, as well as COVID-19 resources  

Jenny Han / Assistant News Editor / The USD Vista

It’s a typical day at USD: sunny skies, in-person classes, long lines during peak hours at any dining hall. It almost feels like everything has gone back to normal. But in reality, the school has yet to completely shift back into normalcy due to the pandemic. This has led to questions about what USD is doing in regards to handling COVID-19. 

For starters, USD is still providing daily updates on their COVID-19 Dashboard. According to the dashboard, there are a total of 53 cases of COVID-19 as of Sept.21 at 4:59 PM: 10 residential students, 30 non-residential students, and 13 Employees. The dashboard also revealed that there were 17 new cases between Sept. 8 and 17. They do note that, “The university will not disclose the specific location of the individual who was infected for privacy reasons and also because avoiding the physical location does not inherently lower a person’s risk of infection.” 

If there is a possibility that one has been exposed to COVID-19, that student will receive an email from contacttracing@sandiego.edu titled “COVID-19 Exposure Notification.” The email will reveal the date that the student was exposed to COVID-19 along with action steps that should be taken. According to the USD’s Contact Tracing Fall 2021 Protocols, fully vaccinated individuals are not required to quarantine if they were exposed to COVID-19. However, unvaccinated students are required to quarantine for ten days. This number can be reduced to seven days if they provide a negative test result from days five to seven of their quarantine. As of Sept. 13, 2021, 93% of students, 97% of full-time employees, and 94% of all employees (both full and part-time) are fully vaccinated. 

Regardless of vaccination status, all students are encouraged to test for COVID-19 if they are exposed to it. The closest testing location to USD is the former USD Electronics Recycling Center located at 5330 Linda Vista Rd, San Diego, CA 92110. It is important to note that although the testing site is on campus, it is not affiliated with the USD Health Center. 

Therefore, one must make a reservation at https://lhi.care/covidtesting in order to get tested at that location. You can find other COVID-19 Testing locations from the San Diego County website. For those who are required to get tested weekly on campus (unvaccinated students and employees), USD provides a step-by-step guide on how to do so in USD Fall COVID Testing Guidelines using the Quickbase app. 

As of now, there is no official policy on if and how students should be attending classes and keeping up with schoolwork if they have gotten COVID-19. Corinne Hoare, Professor from the Department of Communications, is offering her quarantining students the opportunity to attend classes via Zoom if they feel healthy enough to do so. 

However, she does note that this is only an option if she has received a letter from USD confirming that 1) one had been directed to quarantine or 2) currently having COVID-19 symptoms and waiting on test results. It is important to check the syllabus for all classes to check each professor’s policy regarding attending classes and making up assignments due to COVID-19. 

For additional information regarding USD’s action plan against COVID-19 and updated information, visit Onward USD: USD COVID-19 Campus Action Plan.