(DePaul University/Maria Toscano)
The
Chicago Department of Public Health recently released new guidelines for communicating positive COVID-19 cases to the DePaul community.
Under the new guidance, after a positive case is reported using
DePaul's online report form and DePaul's
contact tracing team identifies and notifies the people who were in close contact with them, a campus-wide notification will be sent out with limited information about each case.
Please note that the identities of positive cases and the people who have been in close contact with them will
never be shared publicly with the DePaul community. All will remain anonymous. DePaul's priority is to maintain privacy and respect the dignity of all people during this challenging time.
Close contacts
The contact tracing team will telephone people who were in close contact with the individual who tested positive. Close contact is defined as being within 6 feet of the positive case for 15 or more minutes while they were potentially infectious. People who had brief, casual contact with a positive case will not be notified because they are not considered to be at great risk of infection, according to the CDPH.
Close contacts will be asked to self-quarantine for 14 days after their last known exposure and to monitor for any new symptoms. The contact tracing team may reach out to close contacts more than once to ensure they get as much information as possible.
General notification to DePaul community
Each time a positive COVID-19 case on campus is reported to the university, faculty, staff and students will receive an email notification from
DePaulCommunityHealth@depaul.edu. The notification will include two pieces of information: the timeframe the individual was on campus and what facilities they visited. The individual's identity and other details about the person or their illness will not be shared.
To learn more about DePaul's contact tracing team and their efforts, please review the
contact tracing FAQs. Furthermore, please regularly visit the Return to Campus
website for up-to-date information, guidance and resources.
Thank you for taking care of each other. We're all in this together.