Exposure Response & Protocol
Thank you for supporting our efforts to ‘flatten the curve’ while we do our best to protect the health of the entire Smith Community. This protocol allows us to have rapid and thoughtful responses to evolving public health conditions at the college.
Reporting Symptoms to the Schacht Center
If you or someone you know has been experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, please consider partnering with the Schacht Center in our efforts to ‘flatten the curve’ as we do our best to protect the health of the entire Smith community. We will hold any personal information you provide in confidence but may use general information to consult with the Department of Public Health and college officials to determine appropriate steps to better ensure overall community health.
We urge all community members to practice social distancing: maintain a 6 feet distance whenever possible, do not socialize, attend events, or perform any errands that are not absolutely essential. Obtain delivery service whenever possible. Wash your hands frequently, clean and disinfect surfaces and frequently touched items such as phones, keyboards, doorknobs, lightswitches, and faucets, and do not share personal items.
Risk factors for contracting COVID-19 include close contact with a sick person, such as:
- Living in the same household as a sick person with COVID-19
- Caring for a sick person with COVID-19
- Being within 6 feet of a sick person with COVID-19 for about 10 minutes
- Being in direct contact with secretions from a sick person with COVID-19 (e.g. after being coughed on, sharing utensils, kissing, etc.)
- Direct contact with contaminated surfaces such as commonly touched items, counters, phones, doorknobs, faucets, etc.
For Supervisors
Thank you for partnering with the Schacht Center in our efforts to ‘flatten the curve’ and do our best to protect the health of the entire Smith Community. This protocol allows us to have rapid and thoughtful responses to evolving public health conditions at the College.
If you are concerned about someone you supervise in your department, advise them to:
- Stay home.
- Contact their PCP for instructions.
- Call the 211 public health hotline or the community hotline at 617-724-7000.
- Submit the COVID-19 Concern Check-In Form to inform the Schacht Center. Assure staff that any personal information shared with the Schacht Center will be held in confidence. Any action taken regarding their personal information will be in consultation and accordance with DPH and CDC guidelines.
Remind the unwell staff member to:
- Keep you updated regarding their ability to work.
- Report updates on COVID-19 status by contacting the Schacht Center via email at healthservices@smith.edu with the subject line “COVID follow up”.
What you can communicate with your department:
- Remind them to practice health safety precautions.
- Encourage staff members to report any symptoms or a positive COVID-19 test to their supervisor and complete the COVID-19 Concern Check-In Form.
- If any affected employees have granted specific written permission to do so, department heads may provide brief updates to their teams on the employee’s behalf, copying the employee on the communication.
Language that could be used for employees that are expressing concern:
- These are indeed challenging times and many of us will have questions about our health and the health of those around us. We'd like to take this opportunity to remind our team that the best way to curtail the spread of the virus is social distancing. Any employee who is feeling unwell should stay home, inform their supervisor, contact their PCP and follow their advice. Further guidance and a symptom self-checker tool is available at CDC preventative guidelines.
- Please know that while it is incumbent upon us to protect the individual privacy of staff members, the college is carefully tracking concerns and will communicate identified threats to our campus community in the interest of transparency and public health and safety. Toward that goal, we encourage any employee with symptoms to promptly inform their supervisor, contact their PCP and stay home from work until otherwise advised by their healthcare team.
- Remind staff that, if someone in the community has tested positive for COVID-19, individuals who are known to have had contact with that person will be notified by public health officials including DPH and/or the Schacht Center staff.
Contact Tracing in Massachusetts
COVID-19 Contact Tracing: An important public health initiative regarding exposure to COVID-19.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, along with Partners in Health, has created COVID-19 Community Tracing Collaborative. The program focuses on reaching out to the contacts of confirmed positive COVID-19 patients to help protect others who have been potentially exposed to the virus. Calls from the Massachusetts COVID-19 team will use the prefix 833 and 857 and your phone will say the call is from MA COVID Team. Calls will be made daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Learn more at the Community Tracing Collaborative website.