What to do if you test positive for COVID-19
Skidmore college covid isolation procedure
In accordance with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines and recommendations from the New York State Department of Health, if you test positive for COVID, regardless of your vaccination status, you will need to isolate for a minimum of five days.
Due to limited on-campus isolation space, isolation housing on campus will be prioritized to protect medically vulnerable students who have a roommate who has tested positive for COVID-19. Therefore, students may need to remain in their current housing for isolation – including those in double and triple dorm rooms. Please see more information about on-campus isolation housing below.
At any point, students can choose to isolate independently off-campus, provided they can travel to that location by private transportation (car) and not through public transportation (bus, train, airplane). Students must notify covidsupport@skidmore.edu if they decide to relocate elsewhere (e.g., home) for isolation.
TIMELINE
Positive test without symptoms
If you have no symptoms and test positive for COVID-19, the date of your positive test is considered Day 0 of your isolation period. If you develop symptoms after beginning your isolation, your isolation start date will change, and the date your symptoms start will be your new Day 0. If no symptoms develop, you may leave isolation on Day 6 while wearing a well-fitting mask around others at all times through Day 10 (ie Day 11 would be the first day you would not be required to wear a mask).
Positive test with symptoms
If you are experiencing symptoms and have a positive rapid antigen or PCR test, Day 0 of isolation will be the date your symptoms started. If symptoms are resolving and you have been fever-free (without the use of fever-reducing medicines) you may leave isolation on Day 6 while wearing a well-fitting mask around others at all times through Day 10 (ie Day 11 would be the first day you would not be required to wear a mask).
**Days 6-10 are considered a precautionary period: It is still possible to transmit COVID-19 to others during this time. Therefore, per CDC guidelines, you must wear a well-fitting mask around others at all times until Day 11. If you have been relocated to isolation housing on-campus you must continue to sleep in that isolation space through Day 10, and may return to sleeping in your dorm room on Day 11.
DETAILED ISOLATION INFORMATION
The following communications will be e-mailed to students throughout isolation. Click on document for detailed information:
Isolation Information for Students in Individual Rooms
Isolation Information for Students in Doubles or Triples
Services and Support in Isolation
Ending Isolation Tonight at Midnight
ON-CAMPUS ISOLATION HOUSING
Limited isolation spaces on-campus will be prioritized for students who meet ALL of the following criteria:
1. Student has tested positive for COVID 19.
2. Student lives more than 300 miles from campus and cannot go home or to another location to isolate.
3. Student lives in a double or triple dorm room.
4. Student has a roommate with pre-existing medical conditions that put the roommate at significant risk for severe COVID symptoms or complications, such as chronic lung disease, cystic fibrosis, severe asthma, chronic kidney disease, liver disease, diabetes, pregnancy, cancer, organ transplant, or taking immunosuppressive medications.
If you believe you meet these criteria, please have your roommate email covidsupport@skidmore.edu to discuss options the College may offer based on isolation housing availability, individual circumstances and medical review. Individuals can expect responses during work hours (9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday).