Dear Stanford community,

Stanford is updating its protocols for those who tested positive for COVID-19 and are preparing to either come out of isolation or return to in-person work.

You can read the details of the process for students on the Student Affairs website and the details of the process for faculty, staff and postdocs on Health Alerts. Please note:

  • Students who are currently in isolation will receive more information from Vaden Health Services about the process for exiting isolation. It will be important to follow the steps on the website above and in the information from Vaden.
  • Those who work in Stanford’s health care delivery system should continue to follow the specific protocols provided by Stanford Medicine.

We know that many in our community are eager to return to in-person activities, and at the same time, others may be concerned about peers and colleagues who have tested positive returning too quickly. Our updated protocols, while slightly longer in duration than the CDC’s guidance for the general public, have been developed by our public health experts in consultation with Santa Clara County public health authorities with specific attention to our campus’ congregate living situation for students.

Some additional reminders and updates:

After a positive test: As a reminder, if you test positive for COVID-19, don’t re-test with Color for at least 90 days, unless directed otherwise by a medical provider. Use a rapid antigen test to test out of isolation. Color tests can detect viral remnants days to weeks and sometimes even months after a COVID infection, and thus may remain positive, intermittently, for extended periods of time.

Exposure guidance: Guidance is available on Health Alerts for university employees who have not tested positive for COVID-19 but have COVID-positive household members, and for others who may be seeking guidance after a potential exposure.

An update on case notifications: Because of the high volume of positive test results we are seeing, we are suspending individual dorm-based notifications to students and classroom-based notifications about positive cases. We continue to have a university-wide Potential Exposure Building List where you can see, on a daily basis, buildings where a COVID-positive individual has been present. It’s important to know that the omicron variant is widely circulating in the United States and the local area, and to continue masking and the other health precautions we have advised.

Thank you for all you are doing to care for yourselves and one another, and to support the health of our community.

Sincerely,

Russell Furr
Associate Vice Provost
Environmental Health & Safety