Healthy Knights

Following the CDC’s lead, the University currently treats COVID as an endemic respiratory illness.  As such, the general rules about health, illness, and student and employee absences should be sufficient to deal with COVID.  In other words, our recommended response to COVID is to treat it and its consequences the same as we do other general respiratory conditions such as the flu and RSV.

Here are the CDC guidelines for what you should do if you have respiratory virus symptoms, including from COVID:

You can go back to your normal activities when, for at least 24 hours, both are true:

• Your symptoms are getting better overall, and 
• You have not had a fever (and are not using fever-reducing medication like acetaminophen (e.g., Tylenol) or ibuprofen (e.g., Motrin)

When you go back to your normal activities, take added precautions for the next 5 days, such as taking additional steps for cleaner air, hygiene, masks, physical distancing, and testing when you will be around other people indoors. This is especially important to protect people with factors that increase their risk of severe illness from respiratory viruses.

Keep in mind that you may still be able to spread the virus that made you sick, even if you are feeling better. You are likely to be less contagious at this time, depending on factors like how long you were sick or how sick you were.

If you develop a fever or you start to feel worse after you have gone back to normal activities, stay home and away from others again until, for at least 24 hours, both are true: your symptoms are improving overall, and you have not had a fever (and are not using fever-reducing medication). Then take added precautions for the next 5 days.

If you never had symptoms but tested positive for a respiratory virus, you should take the added precautions mentioned above for the next 5 days.

For most, COVID and other respiratory illnesses will lead to a 2-3 day absence. We ask supervisors and faculty to treat such absences like other short employee or student absences.  For those rare occasions when longer illnesses result, please assist these students or employees as we would for similar non-COVID absences. As always, we ask you to be aware of those who are people at greater risk and to respond accordingly.

In the interest of general wellness, Arcadia encourages people to follow general wellness practices, like those listed in the CDC guideline above, and to stay up to date with their vaccinations such as those for COVID and flu. 

Student Health Services will continue to provide free COVID tests at its location on the Ground Floor of Heinz Hall while supplies last.

Rite Aid will be hosting COVID and flu shot clinics on campus on the following dates:

Tuesday, Sept. 17
3-5 p.m.
Hall of Fame Room

Friday, Oct. 4
11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Wellness Fair on Haber Green

Wednesday, Oct. 30
10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
University Commons Great Room - Employee Benefits Fair

Thursday, Nov. 12
2-4 p.m.
Hall of Fame Room

Friday, Dec. 6
12-2 p.m.
Hall of Fame Room

Register for your COVID test here. You will need to provide Arcadia’s unique code: qpsogk and your date of birth to schedule your appointment.