Rhode Island deemed ‘high risk’
Earlier this week the Baker administration added Rhode Island to its list of states deemed high-risk for transmission of COVID-19. Under the Massachusetts COVID-19 travel order and in accordance with the UMMS travel policy, this means that residents of Massachusetts who travel to Rhode Island will be required to quarantine for 14 days upon returning home. For members of the UMMS community with clinical roles at UMass Memorial Health Care (including third- and fourth-year medical students and clinical nursing students) there is an option for a 14-day quarantine or a negative PCR test within 72 hours of return to Massachusetts. Individuals who live in Rhode Island and commute for work between Rhode Island and Massachusetts are exempt from the aforementioned requirements.
Detailed instructions about how to safely quarantine or isolate can be found here: https://www.umassmed.edu/coronavirus/how-to-self-quarantine-and-self-isolate/.
Surveillance testing at UMMS
A reminder that all employees who are working on-site two or more days per week, and all students who are coming to campus two or more days per week must schedule a weekly COVID-19 screening test. The self-administered tests are quick and painless. Employees should consult with your supervisor if any questions arise about the need to participate in surveillance testing.
Log in here https://umassmed.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eWoB8JExGHLxfJX to schedule a test. Individuals are reminded to blow their noses before arriving at the old Medical School lobby for screening.
Health self-reporting app/portal
In the short time since implementation of a new reminder system for the UMMS ServiceNow app/portal, we have seen a 30 percent improvement in compliance. Thank you for your adherence to this important tool to keep our community safe. Regardless of whether you use the UMMS or UMMHC health self-reporting tool, the helpful daily reminder is being emailed to all employees and students who have not reported their status by 10 a.m. For those who are reporting health status using the UMMHC tool, you should continue to do so and do not need to use the UMMS ServiceNow app or portal.
Visitor policy
A reminder that a strict no-visitor policy is in place at UMMS. For consideration of a special request, individuals should receive approval from their department chair, who should then make a request to the Office of the Provost. Approved visitors will be required to submit to their visit sponsor, in advance of their visit, an electronic copy of a signed attestation that summarizes the COVID-19 safety policies. Approved visitors must also register in advance for the SV3 check-in process. UMMS employees sponsoring an approved visitor must meet their guest in the Medical School lobby and escort the visitor while on school grounds.
One-click access to all UMMS coronavirus information
A dashboard with the results of surveillance testing has been added to www.umassmed.edu/coronavirus and will be updated weekly. In addition, an infection control SharePoint site is now available on our intranet portal and can be accessed through our main intranet site under the Academics dropdown menu. These sites will continue to be updated frequently to keep our UMMS community informed.
To help clarify information about the travel-related quarantine, test-out options and surveillance testing, please review the table below.
|
Category |
Travel and Quarantine and Return from Travel Testing |
||
|
|
Quarantine (14 days) after travel from high risk area* |
Test out option through Governor’s Travel Order?# |
Test out option through clinical system policy? |
|
Preclinical SOM and GSN students, and all GSBS students |
Yes |
No |
No |
|
Clinical SOM and GSN students |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Nonclinical UMMS employees and staff |
Yes |
No |
No |
|
Clinical UMMS/UMMHC faculty and staff, including dual docs |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
*High risk areas change frequently and are defined on the MA DPH website.
#The Massachusetts Travel Order can be found at this link.
Note: Family members must follow the Governor’s travel order, not UMMS/UMMMC rules
