Posts Tagged: coronavirus

COVID-19 is still affecting our lives

Dear Colleagues,

It has been over four years since the COVID-19 pandemic has started, and while nearly all of us have returned to in-person work and activities, COVID-19 is still having an impact on our lives in a much different form than at the beginning. ANR Risk & Safety is continuing our efforts to prioritize the health and safety of the ANR community, and we are issuing this reminder regarding the importance of taking proactive measures if you are feeling unwell.

We are still monitoring the COVID-19 cases notified by the employees who report their positive cases. To help us protect each other, we ask you to please submit a Screening Report Survey if you have tested positive for COVID-19. The Survey is checked daily by our team, and one of our team members will reach out to gather more information, including the date of the symptom start, the last date of in-person presence at your respective office or event, and close contacts if there are any. We ask that you complete the questionnaire honestly.

Per Cal/OSHA Regulations, employers are still required to notify all employees who had close contact with a COVID-19 case. Your survey will help us identify the close contacts and reach out to those who may be impacted as soon as possible. In addition, if you require assistance with COVID notifications for non-ANR affiliated attendees at a recent event, please reach out to Rachelle Ghadamy (rghadamy@ucanr.edu) at Risk & Safety, and we will provide a letter draft to share with everyone. We will also provide a letter if we determine that a group notification would be necessary.

We are continuing to provide masks, including N95, and COVID tests if you are experiencing symptoms or suspecting that you may have COVID-19. Please reach out to Duwon Choi (dwchoi@ucanr.edu) at Risk & Safety if you need them for yourself, your location, or upcoming events.

Per CDPH recommendations, we ask that you stay home if you are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms to prevent the spread. You are welcome to use your sick days or coordinate with your supervisor to work remotely until your symptoms improve. You are advised to stay remote until you have not had a fever for 24 hours without using fever-reducing medication AND other COVID-19 symptoms are mild and improving. You will be required to wear a mask until your Day 10 (Day 0 is the start of your symptoms or your testing positive, whichever one was sooner). You may remove your mask when you have two sequential negative tests at least one day apart.

We strongly recommend everyone to receive booster shots. CDC recommends that everyone ages six months and older get the 2024-2025 vaccine. This includes people who received a COVID-19 vaccine before and people who have had COVID-19. Vaccine protection decreases over time, and the updated vaccine will give you the best protection from the currently circulating strains. One dose of 2024-2024 Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech or Novavax COVID-19 vaccine is recommended. If you are immunocompromised or have other health conditions, consult your physician.

Even though many of the COVID-19 preventative measures have been eased, it's crucial that we remain vigilant and considerate of one another's well-being. Please help us create a safer, healthier workplace environment for everyone.

For more information on ANR's COVID-19 Guidelines, please visit ANR EH&S COVID-19 page.

Duwon Choi
Environmental Health & Safety Specialist
ANR Risk and Safety

COVID-19 guidelines change

On Jan. 9, 2024, the California Department of Public Health updated its COVID-19 Isolation Guidance, Testing Guidance, and the State Public Health Officer Order.

The updates impact Cal/OSHA's COVID-19 Prevention Non-Emergency Regulations and the requirements related to isolating positive cases and testing of close contacts. To ensure that we maintain a safe workplace and safe ANR programming, and comply with public health and occupational safety requirements, all ANR employees must still follow these guidelines. 

The updated Quarantine, Isolation, and Return to Work Guidelines and Quarantine, Isolation, and Return to Work Summary Chart can be found on the ANR Environmental Health & Safety website.

Based on the changes to the guidelines by Cal/OSHA and CDPH, UC ANR will adjust and implement the new guidelines for COVID-19, as follows:

If you test positive for COVID-19:

• Report your COVID-19 test or symptoms to the UC ANR COVID-19 safety team at https://ucanr.edu/covidscreening
• Stay home if you have COVID-19 symptoms.
• You may return to working in-person when all of the following are true:
  1. More than 24 hours have passed since the onset of symptoms, 
  2. You have no fever without the use of fever-reducing medications, 
  3. Symptoms are mild and improving.
• If you have symptoms other than fever, you may voluntarily isolate until symptoms improve or until after Day 10. Day 0 is the symptom onset or positive test day.
• If symptoms are severe, if you are at high risk of serious disease, or have questions concerning care, contact your healthcare provider.
• Wear a well-fitting mask around others through Day 10 after the start of symptoms or testing positive. You may remove your mask sooner than 10 days if you have two sequential negative tests at least one day apart.
• A negative test is not required for return to work.

 If you had close contact with someone with COVID-19:

• Wear a well-fitting mask or respirator around others (at your worksite, indoors, in vehicles, in the field when working near others, etc.) for at least 10 days after exposure.
• Monitor yourself for COVID-19 symptoms. If you develop new symptoms, testing is recommended.
• If you are at a higher risk of severe disease or if you've had contact with someone at higher risk of severe disease, testing is recommended.
• You may still voluntarily get tested after the exposure.
• If you test positive, follow the guidelines for testing positive.

The definition of “Close Contact” remains the same.

Close Contact definition: Close Contact occurs through proximity and duration of exposure. Someone who shared the same indoor airspace with an infected person for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period is considered Close Contact. Spaces that are separated by floor-to-ceiling walls (e.g., offices, suites, rooms, waiting areas, bathrooms, or break or eating areas that are separated by floor-to-ceiling walls) must be considered distinct indoor airspaces. 

In large indoor spaces greater than 400,000 cubic feet per floor (such as open-floor-plan offices, arenas or large meeting spaces, warehouses, large retail stores, or manufacturing/processing facilities), close contact is defined as being within 6 feet of the infected person for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period during the confirmed case's infectious period.

Exception: if you or the Close Contact were wearing a respirator or an N95 mask at the time of interaction.

For more information on the updated guidelines by Cal/OSHA, visit:

• COVID-19 – What Employers Need to Know - Fact Sheet: https://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/coronavirus/Non-Emergency-regs-summary.pdf
• COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions: https://www.dir.ca.gov/DOSH/Coronavirus/Covid-19-NE-Reg-FAQs.html

 

 

COVID-19 update

We hope you had a happy and healthy Labor Day weekend.

While the COVID-19 pandemic officially ended months ago, the virus is and will continue to be present in our communities. Family members, friends, colleagues and clientele are still becoming ill from the virus, so we can all be potentially exposed and get sick as we go about our personal and work lives. Over the past month, the number of COVID-19 cases has been gradually increasing in most parts of the state. The California Department of Public Health's COVID-19 dashboard summarizes the current status: https://covid19.ca.gov/state-dashboard/

With the above conditions in mind, I wanted to take a moment to remind us all of the COVID-19 practices that we all need to continue to follow in the workplace.

• The most important thing you can remember to do is STAY HOME IF YOU ARE SICK. Employees are advised to stay home if they have symptoms of any infectious illness or are feeling sick. As always, contact your supervisor if you need to take sick leave or work from home.
• If you do test positive for COVID-19, you need to report that positive test result, so we can advise on when you can return to work and assess the potential that other employees or clientele that you work with may have been exposed.
• The best way to report symptoms or positive test results is the symptom screening report survey (http://ucanr.edu/symptomscreening).
• Employees who test positive will need to stay away from the workplace and isolate at home for at least 5 days. See the Quarantine, Isolation, and Return to Work chart.
• Our COVID-19 response team reaches out to each person who tests positive for COVID-19 and provides specific instructions. In some cases, we notify other employees at a worksite that they may have been exposed, while protecting the privacy of the individual who tested positive.
• If you have general questions about COVID-19 or UC ANR's procedures, please check the website http://ucanr.edu/covid19 or email ehs@ucanr.edu.

While public health orders and other emergency measures have ended, some basic workplace safety rules to prevent disease transmission remain in effect.

Masks and testing are not mandatory in most cases, but we still must make masks available and provide access to testing if there are workplace exposures. We will continue to share resources for local testing or provide self-administered tests to locations to distribute as needed - please contact your location's Safety Coordinator if you need a test. Investigation of positive COVID-19 cases is required to determine if additional exposures may have occurred at work. All employees must receive COVID-19 prevention training. The COVID-19 prevention plans that were developed for each ANR location must be maintained. Employees are encouraged to maintain recommended booster vaccinations or opt out.

These workplace safety procedures can be expected to continue to prevent outbreaks of COVID-19 or other infectious diseases in ANR workplaces statewide. Thank you for continuing to monitor your health and to take routine measures to keep yourself and your colleagues healthy and safe.

Brian Oatman 
Director, Risk & Safety

COVID-19 update – End of state of emergency

You might have heard that the Governor is ending the COVID-19 state of emergency on Feb. 28. This signals a new phase of response to the pandemic and ends most of the statewide public health orders and restrictions that have been in place and evolved over the past three years. Going forward, UC's efforts related to prevention of COVID-19 or other disease outbreaks will focus on public health education, preparedness and outreach.

For UC ANR workplaces and programming, this will not result in noticeable change from how we have been operating for the past several months. Here is what you need to know:

• Most importantly, employees are still advised to stay home if they have symptoms of any infectious illness or are feeling sick.
• If you do test positive for COVID-19, we still need you to report that positive test, so we can evaluate the conditions, advise on when you can return to work, and determine if other employees or the clientele that we work with may have been exposed.
• The best way to report symptoms or positive test results is by using the symptom screening report survey (http://ucanr.edu/symptomscreening).

While public health orders and other emergency measures are ending, workplace safety rules to prevent disease transmission remain in effect. Masks and testing are not required in most cases, but we still must make masks available and provide access to testing if there are workplace exposures. Investigation of positive COVID-19 cases is required to determine if additional exposures may have occurred at work. Employees must receive COVID-19 prevention training. The COVID-19 prevention plans that were developed for each ANR location must be maintained. The UC vaccination programs policy remains in effect, meaning that employees are required to have an initial series of COVID-19 vaccination, or receive an exemption. Employees are also urged to maintain recommended booster vaccinations, or opt out.

This has been a long journey over the past three years to keep ourselves, our families and our co-workers as safe as possible. Thank you for your efforts and understanding over this time and let's look forward to a new chapter ahead. 

Brian Oatman 
Director, Risk & Safety Services

COVID-19: Vaccination Program Policy comment period extended

On Aug. 30, 2022, the Policy on Vaccination Programs – With Interim Amendments was issued, with an effective date of Sept. 1, 2022. On Sept. 16, 2022, the University of California Office of the President distributed a draft policy for Systemwide Review with a comment deadline of Dec. 15, 2022. Based on feedback received from the Systemwide Review thus far and discussions with leadership, updated interim amendments were made to the policy to include an option for members of the University community to opt out of COVID-19 boosters as well as technical edits. On Dec. 12, 2022, the Policy on Vaccination Programs – With Updated Interim Amendments was issued.

In light of these updated interim amendments, the Office of the President is distributing an updated draft policy and extending the comment deadline for the formal Systemwide Review and consultation process from Dec. 15, 2022, to Jan. 31, 2023, to finalize this Presidential Policy.

Key revisions from the updated interim amendments include the following:

• The Primary Series of the COVID-19 vaccination will remain mandatory for all incoming faculty, staff, students, and trainees who are Covered Individuals subject only to religious, medical, and disability exceptions and temporary deferral due to pregnancy or recent COVID-19 diagnosis or treatment. (Health care workers will continue to be eligible for fewer exceptions due to a California Department of Public Health order.)
• Covered Individuals must be up-to-date with COVID-19 vaccination boosters. However, those who prefer to opt out of COVID-19 boosters will be permitted to do so by signing a declination statement after receiving education and subject to non-pharmaceutical interventions specified by their locations (for example, masking).  Please note that health care workers may not decline their first booster under a California Department of Public Health order unless they are eligible for one of the order's limited exceptions or deferrals.
• If a Covered Individual prefers to defer the COVID-19 bivalent booster for more than 90 days after being diagnosed with or treated for COVID-19, they can do so by declining the booster after receiving education. When they do receive the booster, they will again be considered Up-to-Date.
• Locations will ordinarily set an annual compliance deadline between July and December for existing faculty, staff and students to participate in the COVID-19 vaccine program. This year Locations may set that deadline as late as Feb. 1, 2023.

The version of the policy distributed on Sept. 16, 2022, renamed the policy “Policy on Vaccination Programs” and consolidated the University's existing systemwide vaccination requirements other than the Student Immunization Policy into a single document. Key revisions that were distributed for Systemwide Review at that time include the following:

• The COVID-19 Vaccination Program Attachment incorporates language from the July 15, 2021, SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) Vaccination Program policy with a focus on reorganization and simplification of existing policy language. Those updates were not intended to institute substantive changes in policy regarding existing COVID-19 vaccination requirements.
• In alignment with CDC guidance, the deadlines for completion of the primary COVID-19 vaccination series have been extended to allow for a longer interval period between doses.
• Locations are encouraged to evaluate COVID-19 Vaccination Program Participation, but Healthcare Locations are not required to do so.
• The COVID-19 Vaccination Program corrective action/discipline language for policy-covered academic appointees has been clarified.
• The Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Program Attachment incorporates language from the President's past flu vaccine Executive Orders. The Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Program is an Opt-Out program, which means Covered Individuals may decline vaccination after receiving vaccine education. The program has an annual compliance date of no later than Dec. 1. Locations may choose an earlier compliance date. The first compliance date for new employees depends on when their first date of employment is in relation to the flu season. 
• The language has been updated throughout consistent with current public health usage.

The draft policy is posted on UCNet, and can also be accessed at https://ucanr.edu/sites/PCPA/Revisions/. 

If you have any questions or if you wish to comment, please contact Robin Sanchez at rgsanchez@ucanr.edu, no later than Jan. 25, 2023. Please indicate “Vaccination Programs Policy” in the subject line.

 

 

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