- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
The rate of COVID-19 cases has been increasing in many of our communities. Public health officials have indicated that the current subvariant appears to spread more easily, but in most cases the symptoms of illness are mild and people recover in a few days. In May, UC ANR experienced the second-highest number of cases among employees statewide, after only the “omicron surge” of January 2022.
According to the CDC Community Levels website, more than half of California counties are in the “medium” transmission category, meaning they are experiencing a rate of greater than 200 cases per 100,000 population in the last 7 days. Hospitalizations are also up statewide, but thankfully have not reached critical capacity levels at this time.
Based on this information and current understanding of the virus, we do not need to take drastic measures at this time, but need to reaffirm and continue implementing some of the key safety protocols that have been used over the past two years.
Current COVID-19 safety standards:
- Symptom screening. All employees are reminded to please continue to self-monitor for COVID-19 symptoms and to stay home if you are ill or have symptoms that are not from a known or chronic condition. Even when you are sick with something other than COVID-19, please stay home to avoid spreading illnesses to others.
- If you have symptoms or have been in close contact to someone who has COVID-19, you should get tested. Testing is free and easy from many providers statewide and you may also use at-home antigen tests. See our testing guidance (http://ucanr.edu/covid19testing/) for more information and links to find testing resources in your area. At home, you can order free self-test kits, delivered to your home from the U.S. Postal Service, even if you've ordered before. Visit https://www.covid.gov/tests
- Please report COVID-19 symptoms, exposures, or test results using the COVID-19 Screening Report survey: https://ucanr.edu/covidscreening
- Use of masks is strongly recommended for all people while working indoors, particularly in crowded situations or large groups. At work, think about the situations that put you in close contact with groups of people and wear a mask in those in instances. See the UC ANR Mask Protocol for more detail.
- Monitor the situation. Use the CDC Community Levels website to monitor the relative transmission of COVID-19 in your county and be prepared to react if local health orders or other conditions require a change in safety protocols.
Thanks for your support and understanding – we are all learning how to live with this virus for now and for the future. Please know that we are continually monitoring the situation in our workplace and communities and will continue to assess public health guidance to provide you with updates as the conditions warrant. As we have learned over the past two years, it is important to maintain UC ANR's in-person research and extension programming in our communities. The above safety protocols can help keep our employees and clientele safe while continuing to meet and work in-person.
Brian Oatman,
Director, Risk & Safety Services