Dear Staff,

We appreciate both your individual and collective efforts with keeping the MICA community safe during these challenging times. Concerns have been raised related to reporting students who may exhibit or report symptoms of COVID-19. Hopefully the following will assist in your interactions with such students. 

Should students inform you of any symptoms consistent with COVID-19,  please instruct them to stay home and to contact the Student Health Center immediately at 410.225.4118.  As a community, no student, faculty, or staff member should engage campus if they are feeling unwell. Hence, students who show up to class or other spaces on campus with physical symptoms of illness should expect to be told to go home and contact Student Health for medical assessment and guidance.  You may instruct students exhibiting COVID-19 like symptoms to leave immediately, return home, and contact the Student Health Center. As a community, we are trusting each other to keep ourselves and others well. To that end, once you've instructed a student to seek medical care, you have done your due diligence.  

When a student presents to the Student Health Center with COVID-19 symptoms they are tested and immediately isolated pending test results. Should a student test positive for COVID-19, MICA's internal contact tracing protocol (Rapid Response Team) includes outreach to any community member identified as a close contact of that student. Such contacts (roommates and others) are provided instructions for next steps. 

Privacy laws prevent disclosure of protected health information and Student Health Center staff is unable to confirm or deny if a student sought care. If you are concerned about whether a student sought medical care, you may certainly choose to follow up with that student directly.

Thank you again for your continued partnership and support.  We'll get through this together.

Dr. Judith M. Kinney
Associate Vice President
Student Health and Wellness