Quarantine Guidelines and Assessing COVID-19 Community Levels

Stetson Today March 4, 2022
Graphic that says, "Safer Campus Task Force Update"

Graphic says, Safer Campus Task Force update, with updated guidelines for COVID-19

Quick Look:

  • The Florida Department of Health has new quarantine guidelines, but Stetson will continue to follow CDC/ACHA guidelines.
  • The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has new guidelines for assessing COVID-19 community levels.
  • CDC has new guidelines for masking but is updating their guidance for Institutes of Higher Education (IHE). Stetson’s protocols will remain unchanged while we wait for additional guidance.

Florida DOH has new quarantine guidelines, but Stetson will continue to follow CDC/ACHA guidelines.

Isolation Guidelines

Based on Florida Department of Health and CDC guidelines (revised Jan. 4, 2022), members of the Stetson community should isolate:

  • For 5 days and if they are asymptomatic or their symptoms are resolving (without fever for 24 hours), followed by 5 additional days of wearing a mask when around others to minimize the risk of infecting people they encounter.
  • If you develop a fever, continue to isolate until your fever resolves.

Note: This change is motivated by science, demonstrating that the majority of SARS-CoV-2 transmission occurs early in the course of illness, generally in the 1-2 days prior to onset of symptoms and the 2-3 days after.

Woman has a bandaid on her arm from a COVID-19 booster shot for update about guidelines for COVID-19Quarantine Guidelines

  • If you are unvaccinated or more than 5 months from your second mRNA dose (or more than 2 months after the Johnson & Johnson vaccine) and not yet boosted, quarantine for 5 days followed by strict mask use for an additional 5 days. Testing on day 5 is recommended.
  • If you are vaccinated and/or have had a recent booster, quarantine is not required following an exposure, but you should wear a mask for 10 days after the exposure.

For anyone exposed to COVID-19, the CDC also recommends taking a test for SARS-CoV-2 at day 5 after exposure. If symptoms occur, individuals should immediately quarantine until a negative test confirms symptoms are not attributable to COVID-19.

CDC has new guidelines for assessing COVID-19 community levels.

To determine the COVID-19 community level, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looks at new COVID-19 admissions per 100,000 population in the past 7 days, the percent of staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients, and total new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population in the past 7 days. Using that data, the CDC will classify the COVID-19 level of a community as low, medium or high. COVID-19 Community Levels can help communities and individuals make decisions, based on their local context and their unique needs. The CDC link above includes a map that allows one to check current community levels county by county across the U.S. The CDC mask webpage includes recommendations for wearing masks according to low, medium or high community levels.

CDC has new guidelines for masking but is updating their guidance for Institutes of Higher Education (IHE). Stetson’s protocols will remain unchanged while we wait for additional guidance.

See the Feb. 23 Safer Campus Update for the latest mask requirements and FAQs.