What Should I Do? - Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion University, EVMS, Norfolk, Hampton Roads

Download the Employee and Supervisor COVID-19 Protocols and Testing Instructions

II. Supervisor Protocol

If you are notified that an employee thinks that they have COVID-19 symptoms or thinks that they may have been exposed to COVID-19, or if you see one of your employees with COVID-19 symptoms:

Step 1

If the employee is at work or at home and notifies you that they have symptoms: Tell them to stay home or go home and complete Step 2 of the employee protocol. They will receive a disposition from the screening survey.
If you notice an employee at work with symptoms: Send them home immediately and direct them to complete Step 2 of the employee protocol. They will receive a disposition from the screening survey.
If the employee is at work or at home and tells you they think they have been exposed to a COVID-19 positive person: Tell them to complete Step 2 of the employee protocol. They will receive a disposition from the screening survey.

Step 2

Low-Risk Designation: Employee may remain at work or, if at home, return to work on the schedule agreed upon by you and the employee.
High-Risk Designation:
- Employee must go home immediately or, if at home, remain home and may not return to work until cleared by Occupational Health.
- Send the employee the template email
- Be sure to collect the Close Contact Report

Step 3

If the employee received a high-risk designation: Call all employees and/or others who are listed as having close contact from the Close Contact Report and send them the template email from Step 2. Repeat as necessary.

Step 4

Make sure you get all Close Contact Report back from the employees to whom they were sent.

Step 5

Send the Close Contact Report to the Department Chair/Head/Program Director with a copy to Occupational Health.

Step 6

The supervisor should complete the COVID-19 Housekeeping Protocol/Request Form for Cleaning/Disinfecting.

I. Employee Protocol (Faculty, Staff, Residents and Fellows) – If You Have COVID-19 Symptoms or Think You Were Exposed

If you think you were exposed to a COVID-19 positive person, a Person Under Investigation (PUI), or have developed symptoms that you think might be consistent with COVID-19 please follow the instructions listed below. You will need to have basic information about the COVID-19 positive person you were exposed to, including the date of the contact/exposure and the date the COVID-19 positive person was tested (if known).

Step 1: Take This Action

If you have symptoms: Notify your supervisor that you have symptoms then GO HOME (if at work) or STAY HOME. Complete Step 2.
If you believe you were exposed to COVID-19: Notify your supervisor, and complete Step 2 from your current location.
If you are sent home by your supervisor, GO HOME immediately, then complete Step 2.

Step 2: Take the Screening Survey and Note Your Disposition

Complete and submit the REDCap EVMS/EVMS Medical Group Exposure Survey.
Once you click on the button to submit the survey, you will see a "disposition" based on your responses. Read the disposition carefully and print it if possible.

Step 3: Do As Follows Based on Your Disposition Notice

Low Risk Disposition: Notify your supervisor of your disposition and STAY AT WORK, or if at home, you may return to work on the schedule as approved by your supervisor.
High Risk Disposition: GO HOME IMMEDIATELY (if at work), or if at home, STAY HOME. You may not return to work until Occupational Health clears you for return. You must also:
- Notify your supervisor of your disposition.
- Complete the Close Contact Report and provide it to your supervisor within 24 hours.
- If Occupational Health has not contacted you by noon the next business day, call them at 757.446.5870. In case of urgency or concern and only outside of Occupational Health normal business hours (Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.), you may call their exposure pager at 757.669.1157.

Step 4: Follow this Step Only If Occupational Health Tells You That You Need to be Tested for COVID-19

If Occupational Health tells you that you need to be tested for COVID-19, call the EVMS Medical Group Quality Office at 757.451.6232 to schedule your drive-through testing. Testing is available by appointment only.
Print the applicable self-monitoring form (Symptomatic or Asymptomatic) from the EVMS COVID-19 website and start monitoring your symptoms according to the instructions on the form. Failure to follow the instructions on the form will delay your return to work clearance.
Test results are provided via phone by the EVMS Medical Group Quality Office. (Please note that Occupational Health does not provide test results.) On average, it takes three days to receive test results, but it could take longer.
- Negative test results are provided during normal business hours Monday through Friday.
- Positive results are provided as soon as test results become available to the EVMS Medical Group Quality Office.

NEGATIVE TEST RESULTS DO NOT AUTHORIZE YOU TO RETURN TO WORK ACTIVITIES. THE FOLLOWING STEPS MUST BE FOLLOWED IN ORDER TO BE CLEARED TO RETURN TO WORK.

When you receive your test results, contact Occupational Health by phone at 757.446.5870 or email at occhealth@evms.edu. They will provide you with further instructions regarding your return to work clearance.
At the appropriate time, based on the instructions in the self-monitoring form or your communication with Occupational Health, you will need to send your self-monitoring form to Occupational Health. Occupational Health will then review your test results and self-monitoring form to ensure that you have met the return to work clearance criteria. They will then issue you a return to work clearance notification, if indicated.
If you are not cleared to return to work, Occupational Health will inform you of the required next steps to be taken before you can be cleared. YOU MAY NOT REPORT TO WORK UNTIL CLEARED BY OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH.
For clinical operations, EVMS/EVMS Medical Group faculty, staff, residents and fellows should not be scheduled for duty until the employee has received a return to work clearance notification from Occupational Health.

III. Communications/Questions

Q. Does everyone in the building with or who may have seen the COVID-19 positive employee need to self-quarantine?

A. No. Only persons with whom the employee was in close contact as indicated on the Close Contact Report need to self-quarantine or potentially be tested. All other persons are considered to be at low risk and may return to educational activities immediately, even if the employee ultimately tests positive for COVID-19.

Close Contact is defined as: a) being within 6 feet of a person with confirmed COVID-19 for more than 15 minutes where at least one of the parties is not wearing a mask or b) having unprotected direct contact with infectious secretions or excretions of the person with confirmed COVID-19 where at least one of the parties is not wearing a mask.

Q. Will EVMS notify the entire campus that an employee has symptoms or thinks they have been exposed?

A. No. EVMS as an institution has to balance the requirements of the privacy of personal health information with the need to notify employees of potential risk. In general, EVMS will not be sending out campus-wide communications about individual incidents that are determined to be low risk and limited to a particular lab or set of offices. EVMS will work with exposed or infected employees and the Virginia Department of Health to identify other employees who will need to self-isolate and self-monitor.

Q. What if an employee fails to follow the protocol or to return the required Close Contact Report?

A. Unless there are extenuating circumstances, employees are required to follow the protocols outlined and could be subject to disciplinary action for not following EVMS directives. See the Universal Masking Policy and Disciplinary Action PowerPoint.

Although we have developed evidence-based protocols for safeguarding ourselves and our colleagues while on campus through the use of social distancing, universal masking and increased hand washing, you are still vulnerable to COVID-19 if you are not practicing these safeguards in your personal lives. Choosing not to wear a mask, ignoring social distancing protocols, and engaging in group activities (whether outdoors or indoors), for example, place you at higher risk for catching the coronavirus and for spreading the virus to your collegues, friends and family.

Therefore, we strongly encourage you to practice social distancing, utilize universal masking and increase hand washing in your personal lives. Perhaps most importantly, take the COVID vaccine.

The actions you take at home or in the community pose a risk to your health and impact EVMS. Your health and safety are our top priority, but we would be remiss if we did not also remind you of how your personal activities can impact your colleagues and our academic and clinical operations. Please safeguard yourself, your family, your friends and your EVMS peers.