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We hope you had a healthy and happy New Year. For the spring 2022 semester, we will continue to share updates each Thursday as a way of ensuring regular and trusted communication on important topics related to the operations of the college related to Covid-19. In this update, you will find:
- Testing results for week of January 3 — new testing registration link — next vaccine clinic
- Information regarding virtual instruction beginning January 10
- Regular and relevant data to understand the health of our community
- Information on the next testing and vaccination opportunities on and off campus
- Information on important phasing and planning related to activities across campus
- Answers to frequently asked questions
Testing Results for the Week of January 3, 2022
Employees and student athletes who returned early were tested on January 3. Because of the volume of testing throughout the county, state, and country, we do not yet have the results of those tests and so cannot report our collective results. If it has been greater than 72 hours and you have not received a text message with a link to obtain your test results, you can contact Starmed at 704.222.0270 and press option 2. Please allow 24 hours for a response. Multiple phone call attempts and emails will cause a delay in response as they work through the calls in the order they are received. We (Guilford College) will not have the results available until Starmed contacts you with the results.
Please keep in mind that results may take much longer than 72 hours. This is not due to anything that Guilford College can control and has to do with the sheer volume of tests that are trying to be processed at once.
In the meantime, continue to practice the 3 W’s (wash your hands, wear a mask, and wait six feet apart) and if you are feeling any symptoms, please try to get tested again (see link to public testing sites) and limit interactions to avoid potentially further spreading the virus should you be positive. Anyone who tests positive should isolate for 10 days. Keep in mind that while the new guidelines may call for a five-day isolation, the isolation protocol for Guilford remains at 10 days per advice from the North Carolina Health Department suggestions to institutions of higher education.
New Starmed Testing Registration Link: For future on-campus testing clinics, please note that we now have a new registration link that is for the exclusive use of Guilford College. Visit this link to register for a testing session.
Next Vaccination Clinic: We have an on-campus vaccine clinic scheduled for Friday, January 15, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (location TBD). The Pfizer booster and the flu shot will be offered. We are strongly encouraging everyone who is eligible to get their Covid booster shot.
Note: If you had the Johnson & Johnson one-shot vaccine, and it's been longer than two months, you may receive a booster of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. If you had the Pfizer or Moderna series and it is longer than six months, you are eligible for a booster.
If you do not wish to wait for the next clinic on campus, information on local vaccine clinics around Greensboro is here.
Information regarding virtual instruction beginning January 10:
- We are opening in Phase 4 of Activity Decision Matrix, and continuing to mandate mask wearing indoors until further notice.
- The first week of classes (January 10-14) will be held online. We will use campus test results (see #6 below) to determine if there should be an extension of virtual instruction.
- Students should return to campus as planned with residence halls and apartments opening on Friday, January 7.
- We strongly recommend that students get tested before returning to campus. This will help us keep the campus safer for everyone.
- We will permit athletes and coaches involved with winter sports to practice and compete, but will require weekly PCR testing for all in-season athletes/coaches alongside our ongoing rapid testing protocols.
- Students who are on-campus and off-campus should be tested on January 10 or 11. On-campus results will automatically be forwarded to H&S task force staff. If you test off campus, please forward your result to covidscreening@guilford.edu. Results of that testing will help us determine how the second week of instruction will be handled. If positivity is 5% or less, we will plan on returning to in-class instruction on Tuesday, January 18, following the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
- We are not currently requiring booster shots, although we strongly encourage members of our community to get them if they are eligible. We may shift our position on boosters later in the semester and require them in the future.
- Meal service from the dining hall will be take-out only until we return to in-person instruction.
- We will continue to mandate mask wearing indoors until further notice. We encourage members of the community to wear KN95 (most preferable) or surgical-type disposable masks rather than single-layer fabric masks.
Thank you to everyone for their continued patience and support. This is not easy for any of us and we appreciate the community effort to safeguard yourself, your friends, your family and the greater community.
Sincerely,
The Guilford College Health and Safety Task Force
Kim Berry and Steve Mencarini, co-chairs
Janet Gould
Suzanne Bartels
Savannah Henry
Maya Chevalier
Kim-Anne Kleimeier
Reacie Daniel
Erickia Elbert
Ryann Fowler
Michele Malotky
Susan Smith