Below is information about Spring semester 2022. 

GENERAL PROTOCOLS

On campus regularly scheduled testing for students began the week of January 17,2022.

Masks need to be worn indoors at all times unless you are drinking or eating or working in your private space. Students should wear masks in common spaces like lounges, kitchens, laundry rooms, and bathrooms when feasible. Please remember to physically distance.

Quarantine Space 

If you have already arranged your off campus quarantine space, you will be asked to  quarantine/isolate off campus at that location to ensure we have enough quarantine space for all who need it.

We have obtained limited off-campus quarantine and isolation space again at the nearby YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly. Students will continue to work with our Health Center staff to be screened, and if it’s determined that a student should quarantine or isolate, the student will be transported to Blue Ridge if they don’t have their own transportation. We will continue to work with the students to provide meal delivery, health monitoring, and case management. If you were to have a medical emergency while at Blue Ridge, please call 911 immediately. Once students are medically cleared, they can return to campus.

We will also have very limited quarantine space on campus if it becomes needed.

Quarantine/Isolation Guidelines 

Our COVID protocols were developed using CDC guidance, NC State guidelines and very close collaboration with Buncombe County Health and Human Services. Because of these guidelines and collaboration with the County, our quarantine and isolation  times may be different from other guidelines and other colleges.  Our campus COVID guidelines continue to be praised by Buncombe County health officials.  We are doing more to protect you and our community.

While the CDC has recently changed quarantine and isolation guidelines for the general public, we must adhere to the previously established guidelines per Buncombe County health officials due to congregate living.

Our guidelines for students and employees are as follows:

If you’re NOT vaccinated you must quarantine or isolate when:

• You receive a confirmed, positive COVID-19 laboratory diagnosis when tested for your own symptoms or exposure.  You must be isolated for 10 days.
• You exhibit COVID-19 symptoms, you must quarantine until you receive a negative PCR and are asymptomatic
• You are designated a close contact, you must quarantine until you receive a negative PCR.

If you’re vaccinated but haven’t gotten your booster shot you must quarantine or isolate when:

• You receive a confirmed, positive COVID-19 laboratory diagnosis when tested for your own symptoms or exposure. You must be isolated for 10 days.
• You exhibit COVID-19 symptoms, you must quarantine until you receive a negative PCR and are asymptomatic.
• You are designated a close contact, you must quarantine until you receive a negative PCR.

If you’re vaccinated including a booster shot you must quarantine or isolate when:

• You receive a confirmed, positive COVID-19 laboratory diagnosis when tested for your own symptoms or exposure. You must be isolated for 10 days.
• You exhibit COVID-19 symptoms, you must quarantine until you receive a negative PCR and are asymptomatic.
• You DO NOT need to quarantine after contact with someone who had COVID-19 unless you have symptoms. However, you should get tested 3-5 days after your exposure, even if they don’t have symptoms and wear a mask indoors in public for 10 days following exposure or until their test result is negative.

   

CONTACT TRACING GENERALLY WORKS AS FOLLOWS:

• Contact tracing will continue as has been practiced since the beginning of the pandemic.
• If an individual develops symptoms and is awaiting a COVID-19 test, receives a positive COVID-19 test result, or is identified as a close contact by contact tracers, then the employee stays home or the student goes to quarantine at the College’s off-site location at Blue Ridge Assembly or other offsite location until released. They cannot remain on campus.
• When a positive COVID-19 test result is identified, a contact tracer will be assigned immediately to the case. The contact tracer will interview the individual and identify all contacts. Close contacts are defined specifically as noted below. Close contacts are entered into a database and notified by phone and/or email. Information on how to proceed is communicated to everyone who is a close contact.
• The contact tracer will relay information about any non-WWC close contacts to the Buncombe County Public Health Department.
• Please note that during this process the name of the primary will be disclosed to possible contacts, but protected health information will not be disclosed.
• Per both Warren Wilson College protocol and CDC guidance, a ‘close contact’ is defined as any individual who is within 6 feet of an infected person for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period starting from 2 days before illness onset (or, for asymptomatic persons, 2 days prior to positive test collection) until the time the person is isolated.
• As a close contact, do not call other friends or classmates. Once your test results have been confirmed, the contact tracer would inform any additional students needed.  Do not jump ahead thinking you are helping by telling your friends of your need to quarantine.

Vaccinations and Boosters Required

Vaccinations continue to be required for all students and employees. If you are faculty or staff and have an exemption, weekly testing is required and you should have received an email from Heather Schalk with the pertinent information.  Please contact her directly with any questions.

All students, faculty, and staff are required to receive a booster vaccination once eligible and show proof of booster status within two weeks of their eligibility date, or no later than January 21st if currently eligible. Please refer to the email from Student Life and HR regarding this and for the links to upload proof of your booster. For any questions, students please contact the health center and employees contact HR.

Vaccinations with boosters remain the best protection against COVID, including the Omicron variant, to prevent severe illness. To learn more about the booster shots please review CDC information.

State and County Testing Resources

StarMed Harrah’s Cherokee Center testing flyer:

BCHHS Testing Information: https://www.buncombecounty.org/countycenter/news-detail.aspx?id=18637

NC Find MY Testing Place: https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/about-covid-19/testing/find-my-testing-place