REQUIRED TESTING: Faculty, Staff and Students (Weekly/Semi-weekly Testing)
Surveillance Testing (Pop Testing 3.0):Undergraduate students who reside in USC Housing or come onto our campuses will be required to test twice weekly for COVID-19. Graduate and professional students, faculty, and staff who come onto our campuses will be required to test once weekly. These required tests will be provided by the University at no cost to our current students, faculty and staff. Tests are PCR (polymerase chain reaction); Keck Medicine of USC Clinical Laboratories is providing the laboratory services for this program which will replace the COLOR program for most individuals. For the University Park Campus (UPC), perimeter access is granted to individuals who have completed compliance on Trojan Check. For the Health Sciences Campus (HSC), access points are by building; academic and research buildings require Trojan Check. Please see the HSC building list for additional details.
Category: News
COVID-19 Q & A Sessions with USC Student Health
Join Dr. Sarah Van Orman, Chief Health Officer for USC Student Health, for January 2021 updates on the current situation in Los Angeles County (including the 10-day quarantine for people traveling from outside of the Southern California region), COVID-19 spring testing at USC, and the vaccine phases as it applies to California and campus.
…Continue Reading COVID-19 Q & A Sessions with USC Student Health
Revised Quarantine Period in California (10 Days)
If you are notified that you have had an exposure to a COVID-19 individual, you may have a shortened quarantine period of 10 days from date of exposure. Your return-to-work instruction letter from USC Student Health will provide the date, and instructions for self-monitoring, 213-740-9355 (WELL). You may access your test results, dates, and your other private health information from the secure electronic health records portal, MySHR (usc.edu/myshr)….Continue Reading Revised Quarantine Period in California (10 Days)
Contact Tracing
When the USC Student Health contact tracing team member contacts you, they are only focused on one thing: keeping you healthy, and keeping your friends and co-workers safe from COVID-19. Team members who are health professionals will ask about your symptoms, and about others you may have had close contact with during the time you may have been infectious. Your patient privacy matters to USC Student Health. Your name will not be shared with those who are notified….Continue Reading Contact Tracing
Spring 2021 COVID-19 Screening Strategy Update
For the January 2021 start of spring term, the Keck Medicine of USC team, in partnership with campus operational teams working around the clock, have spearheaded a plan that will greatly scale our community surveillance program for COVID-19.
Testing capacity for fall 2020 was 5,000 tests per week; for spring 2021, capacity will be expanded to 100,000 per week. An expansion of 50 health care staffing positions, including additional contact tracing, will support this daily testing operation, with locations at HSC (Pappas Quad) and UPC (Pardee/Marks, Fluor/King, Jefferson Lot/Engemann Plaza, and the addition of The Lab/Figueroa)….Continue Reading Spring 2021 COVID-19 Screening Strategy Update
COVID-19: Health Advisory 11/6
This past week, we have seen an increase in the number of cases of COVID-19 in both student and employee populations; currently there are 29 active patient cases, up from a low of 8 average weekly cases two weeks ago. In addition to the cases where there was a clear exposure (a total of 15 minutes or longer, within 6 ft., over a 24-hour period) to someone positive with COVID-19, there has also been an increase in positivity in the surveillance testing of individuals without known exposures. In many cases, the transmission has been through close contact with just a small number of people—small gatherings with family and friends, study groups, and travel. …Continue Reading COVID-19: Health Advisory 11/6
Flu Compliance Process for Faculty and Staff
Please be reminded that all “on site” USC faculty and staff have a flu vaccination fall deadline of November 1, 2020. Faculty and staff planning to access campus in Spring 2021 should complete flu compliance in advance of coming to campus. Please review instructions for uploading documentation to MySHR (the secure health records portal). Beginning January 19, 2021, individuals who are out of compliance on flu immunization or testing compliance will have TrojanCheck access temporarily discontinued….Continue Reading Flu Compliance Process for Faculty and Staff
Questions about Insurance?
If you have specific questions about insurance requirements and options, 10 minute Zoom appointments are available for Student Health Insurance, Fees & Billing Questions: Tuesdays – 5pm – 6pm and Wednesdays – 8am – 9am. Sign up for your individualized chat. Sessions are scheduled for 10/21 through 11/17.
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COVID-19 Antibody Study
The results of the USC Student Health study appeared Oct. 15, in the Journal of Adolescent Health. Participants were invited to be part of the study via an email invitation that was sent to 9,135 students enrolled for the spring 2020 semester. Only students still living in the area could participate, as they had to come to the student health center for a blood draw. The study indicates that the virus was not widely circulating in the student population prior to the closure of the physical campus in mid-March 2020. One surprising takeaway from the study could help USC Student Health doctors zero in on possible COVID-19 cases during cold and flu season. Eighty-one percent of students who tested positive for antibodies reported losing their sense of smell or taste — a symptom associated with the new coronavirus but not influenza….Continue Reading COVID-19 Antibody Study
“Healthy Minds” Survey on Student Mental Health
A randomly selected sample of USC students will be invited to complete the survey and will have between September 28 – October 31 (now extended through November 7) to submit responses. All responses are anonymous, and the survey takes approximately 25 minutes to complete.
The results of the survey will provide important information on the mental health status of USC students, and how undergraduate and graduate students access support services. Every student who is invited is encouraged to participate. As an incentive, each student who submits a completed survey will be entered into random drawings for $20 Amazon gift cards….Continue Reading “Healthy Minds” Survey on Student Mental Health