Upcoming COVID health and safety changes

Note: This letter originally appeared as an e-mail sent to Homewood students on May 14, 2021.

Dear Students,

With the spring semester coming to a close, we would like to take an opportunity to extend our gratitude for your willingness to work alongside our staff in Student Affairs, Student Health and Well-Being, and the Johns Hopkins COVID-19 Call Center to ensure a safe return to campus. Your dedication to the principles of the JHU social compact has been instrumental in keeping each other, our community, and our Baltimore neighbors safe. We are excited to build on this momentum as we prepare for the fall semester, and we hope that you will all continue to follow the health guidance of the CDC and other experts throughout the summer.

While many of you will soon be returning to hometowns near and far, we know that some of you will remain on campus and in Baltimore for the summer months. Below you will find some helpful information about the health and safety guidelines and various resources that will be in place at Homewood during that time. This information will apply to anyone who intends to be on campus in any capacity, not just those living here full time.

• Hopkins affiliates planning to access campus will need to continue completing the COVID Health Check on the Prodensity app. Only those with an active 12-hour Campus Pass will be permitted on campus.
• Those who are on campus for the first time will need to download the Prodensity app and answer the onboarding questions. If you are required to participate in weekly COVID testing (see below), please ensure your MyChart account is activated. An active MyChart account is required to schedule COVID testing appointments and to receive test results. Please email [email protected] with any testing or MyChart related questions.
• Masks are required in any on-campus building. Masks are required outdoors when 6-foot distancing cannot be maintained. We are currently evaluating the CDC’s recently updated guidance on mask use.
• Levering Kitchens and Levering Cafe will continue offering only grab-and-go and market options Monday-Friday through at least June. Distanced dining options will be implemented in July if public health conditions allow.
• The three-times-per-week COVID testing schedule for undergraduates will remain in place through May 16. Testing locations will be identified in MyChart, and the last day of Saturday testing hours is May 15. Beginning on May 17, testing will drop from 3x to twice weekly and is only required of students who will be physically coming to the Baltimore campus. When we enter Phase 3A, as public health conditions permit, undergraduate residential students who have submitted proof of vaccination will only be required to test once per week. Vaccinated undergraduate students residing off-campus will no longer be required to test. Any affiliates who are unvaccinated will have to test twice weekly. Voluntary on-demand testing will remain available for all.
• Graduating students will have the option of continuing to use the COVID testing sites through July 30.
• A vaccination documentation system will be implemented July 1 that will allow students and other JHU affiliates to upload their proof of vaccination. Vaccination for students accessing campus is required this fall and therefore more information about uploading proof of vaccination and the exemption process will be forthcoming in the next several weeks.
• For international students, note that we will accept documentation of vaccination using a World Health Organization-authorized vaccine approved for use in other countries but not approved in the U.S. For those international students who do not have access to a WHO- or US-approved vaccine, we will be offering vaccine clinics upon arrival in the fall. Additional information on these clinics will be forthcoming.
• The current quarantine and isolation policies for students who test positive for or have meaningful exposure to COVID-19 will remain in place until further notice regardless of vaccination status. On-campus students will be required to quarantine and isolate in designated on-campus housing if they test positive or have meaningful contact with a COVID-19-positive affiliate. Off-campus students will be required to isolate in university designated housing if they test positive. The meaningful contact quarantine timeframe has dropped from 14 to 10 days if the person continues to test negative on day nine.
• After May 16, students will no longer need to register their travel through Prodensity.

Finally, we recognize that among the several challenges of the past year, financial hardships have been especially pressing for many in our community and their families. The university has made significant financial commitments during this period in an effort to provide a wide range of support to as many of our affiliates as possible and to ensure a safe campus experience. Some notable examples include:

• Student Financial Services has granted over $13 million in emergency funding and additional financial aid since March 2020 to help students whose family situations have changed as a result of the pandemic.
• We expanded our COVID-19 testing program to include free, three-times-per-week tests for all asymptomatic undergraduates and once-weekly tests for many graduate students, faculty, and staff at nine locations across our campuses.
• We created safer places to gather outdoors, installed a large temporary social gathering and study structure on the Freshman Quad, implemented new educational materials, constructed 127 state-of-the-art studios and enhanced instructional spaces for faculty to conduct remote instruction, and increased signage to make sure our community is informed about public health guidelines and expectations.
• And we committed $20 million to launch a workforce relief fund that covers new, unanticipated caregiving expenses for our faculty, staff, and students.

If you require additional financial assistance as a result of the pandemic or other changes to your family’s financial situation, please do not hesitate to contact the Office of Financial Aid.

We hope you have a wonderful summer and enjoy some well-earned rest and relaxation.

Sincerely,

Alanna W. Shanahan
Vice Provost for Student Affairs

Kevin Shollenberger
Vice Provost for Student Health and Well-Being