The Daily Bulletin

Masks
All members of our campus community are reminded that, regardless of vaccination status, proper face coverings are required to be worn in all indoor spaces unless you are actively eating or drinking. Face coverings remain one of the best protections we have against the spread of illness, and it is critically important that we adhere to these protocols for everyone’s safety.

Vaccines and Boosters
COVID-19 vaccine and booster appointments are available through New York state’s vaccine website. Employees who are receiving or have received the vaccine booster should be sure to update their vaccination information by completing the online vaccination form or providing a copy to Human Resource Management, Cleveland Hall 403. Acceptable proof is a copy of your completed CDC vaccination card or a screenshot of your NYS Excelsior Pass. This information will be kept confidential and will not become part of your campus employment records. 

Weekly Surveillance Testing
Employees who do not wish to disclose their vaccination status or who are not fully vaccinated must continue to participate in weekly COVID-19 surveillance pool testing.  

Employee COVID-19 Daily Screening Questionnaire
In order to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus and reduce the potential risk of exposure, all employees planning to report to the worksite are required to complete this questionnaire daily before reporting to work.

Sign on to the Health Portal and click the COVID-19 tab to view the Employee COVID-19 Daily Screening Questionnaire or cut and paste the following link into your browser: https://weigelsp.buffalostate.edu

Current Isolation and Quarantine Guidance
If you test positive for COVID-19, please report your positive case to your supervisor and to Human Resource Management for appropriate contract tracing to be executed and follow your quarantine orders. Typically, you must isolate for 10 days past the onset of symptoms. If you do not have symptoms, then you must isolate for 10 days past the date that your test sample was collected.

Close Contact
Fully vaccinated individuals do NOT need to quarantine after close contact with someone who had COVID-19 unless they have symptoms; however, fully vaccinated people should get tested five to seven days after their exposure to the virus, even if they don’t have symptoms, and wear a mask for 14 days following exposure or until their test result is negative.

Unvaccinated individuals must quarantine for 14 days if they are identified as a close contact of someone who has tested positive. They should also contact their health-care provider to arrange for a COVID-19 test.

Unvaccinated people who are close contacts can leave quarantine after seven days under the following conditions:

• A COVID-19 test collected five days after exposure comes back negative and the person does not have any symptoms.
• Quarantine cannot end earlier than a full seven days—or on day eight. Accepted COVID-19 tests include NAAT (PCR) tests or antigen tests conducted and reported by a licensed laboratory.
• People leaving quarantine are encouraged to monitor symptoms and wear a mask when around others for two weeks following their exposure.

Erie County Testing information and a test site finder are available on the Erie County Department of Health website.

At-home test kits are available. The Erie County DOH has released guidance on how to appropriately report a positive at-home test. You must notify your supervisor and Human Resource Management of a positive test. 

Looking Ahead to Spring 2022
We are continuing our path forward for spring 2022. We must continue to be diligent in our efforts of mitigating risk and continuing to comply with all the health and safety requirements. We were successful in all our efforts in safely convening on campus for fall 2021, and we will continue our efforts for spring 2022. We thank you for your continued flexibility as we continue to uphold high standards for health and safety while we navigate this pandemic. All updates to guidance will be announced in the Daily Bulletin.