Changes to our COVID testing operations

Note: This letter originally appeared as an e-mail sent to the Hopkins community on November 21, 2022.

Dear Johns Hopkins Community,

As we reach the end of the semester, we would like to inform you of some upcoming changes to our COVID operations.

Based on current trends, we expect that COVID will continue to be a part of our lives. However, our defenses against the coronavirus have gotten stronger, thanks to a growing majority of the U.S. population now having some immunity to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, whether from vaccination, past infection, or both, and we continue to see a low prevalence of COVID cases among our faculty, staff, and students.

In consultation with our Health Advisory Group, we will be shifting our COVID response to align even more closely with how we handle other respiratory diseases. This means we will conclude our asymptomatic COVID testing and transition to symptomatic testing for students and readily available home test kits and masks.

For your information:

• Asymptomatic testing sites will close at SAIS on Dec. 1 at 3 p.m. and all other campus locations on Dec. 2 at 11 a.m.
• Home test kits and masks will be available at JHU at least through Spring Break, and distribution information is online. Self-tests are available at pharmacies and retail locations.
• Symptomatic testing will continue to be available to students through the Student Health and Wellness Center. Employees should contact their medical provider for symptomatic testing.

Positive tests should still be submitted to JHU.

• Students who test positive with a home test kit should submit their results using this online form. If students have other questions regarding COVID, they can also call our student nurse line at 410-516-5709 between 8:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.
• Employees should continue to call the Johns Hopkins COVID Call Center if they receive a positive test.
• Further information on how to interpret the results of home test kits is available from the Food and Drug Administration.

COVID symptoms should be taken seriously regardless of test results. All affiliates who have COVID symptoms are encouraged to stay home and away from JHU campuses until all the symptoms are gone. We expect faculty to be flexible in appropriately accommodating students who are ill and following this guidance.

Flu vaccine (or an approved medical or religious exception) is required of all students, trainees, postdoctoral fellows, faculty, and staff who will be on our campuses. The deadline was Nov. 18, so if you have not already done so, please get the flu shot and download proof to the Vaccine Management System.

Bivalent COVID boosters are also highly recommended, as the best protection against current COVID strains.

We thank you again for all you have done this year to prevent the spread of COVID on campus and in the surrounding community.

Sincerely,

Stephen Gange
Professor and Executive Vice Provost for Academic Affairs

Jon Links
Professor, Vice Provost, and Chief Risk Officer

Kevin Shollenberger
Vice Provost for Student Health and Well-Being