UIC will continue to provide guidance and support for students who test positive through UIC Family Medicine, self-report a positive test, or report an exposure to someone with COVID-19. Students residing in Campus Housing will continue to be required to report their positive COVID-19 tests to UIC. UIC employees who test positive for COVID-19 are not required to report to contact tracing and should follow departmental procedures. However, any campus employee whose COVID absence exceeds 3 days will be required to receive clearance from UHS. Procedures can be found on this page.
This past spring and summer, the country has experienced a much-needed respite in SARS-CoV-2 infections. However, the CDC has recently reported steadily increasing rates of hospital admissions, emergency room visits, and test positivity across the country coinciding with reports of increasing COVID-19 cases around the world. While the COVID-19 Community Level remains low in the City of Chicago, we’d like to take a moment to remind you of the following guidance to keep you, your friends and family, and the UIC community safe. This is especially important as our program has seen a large increase in the number of COVID-19 positive cases following the return to classes in previous years.
- Stay home and do not come to campus if you are sick or have symptoms of COVID-19, no matter how mild!
- Consider testing before returning to campus, especially if you have symptoms of COVID-19, have travelled to areas with high COVID-19 risk, or have recently participated in an event at high-risk for transmission.
- While PCR tests are most reliable, COVID-19 self-tests are easy to use, produce rapid results and are widely available; however, repeat testing is recommended.
- Be sure to refer to this FDA site for information on extended expiration dates for COVID-19 self-tests.
- Updated COVID-19 booster vaccines are expected to be released this fall and will target currently circulating descendants of the XBB variant.
- Vaccination remains an essential tool in reducing your risk of severe COVID-19 illness, hospitalization, and death.
- Consider masking in settings at high risk for transmission or if you or a loved one are at high-risk for severe COVID-19 disease.
- While masking is not mandatory on UIC’s campus, if you are infected with COVID-19 you are required to mask in all campus spaces following your return from isolation through day 10 of illness. Similarly, individuals who are exposed to someone with COVID-19 should mask in all campus spaces throughout the post-exposure period.
To learn more about our COVID-19 resources:
- University isolation and post-exposure guidelines can be found here.
- To self-report a positive test or exposure, use our Reporting Tool.
- For questions, please reach out to us via email (uic_contact_tracing@uic.edu) or phone (312-355-2555).
- For information about our program, its hours of operation, helpful COVID-19 resources, and travel considerations we invite you to visit our website.
