Dear Santa Clara University Community, 

Welcome to the Week 4 edition of the Prepared SCU Weekly Roundup. In this short Friday digest, we share key information related to SCU’s response to COVID-19.

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COVID-19 Dashboard Update

This past week, the University had a 7-day test positivity rate of less than 0.1%, lower than the 1.0% positivity rate in Santa Clara County and 2.1% in California. Track our progress on our COVID-19 Dashboard. 

Testing for Graduate and Undergraduate Students in Residence Halls

Weekly testing is mandatory for all students who live in on-campus housing (including neighborhood units, Villas, and residence halls). This requirement applies to graduates and undergraduates, as well as students with approved vaccine exemptions. Remember that off-campus students are highly encouraged to test regularly. Please do your part to keep our community safe by completing your weekly test.

Stay Safe this Flu and Cold Season

Last week, over 300 students, faculty, and staff received their flu vaccine at the campus clinic. If you missed your opportunity, we recommend getting your flu shot at Walgreens or CVS near campus.

If you have a cold, please stay home, get a COVID-19 test, get your results, and wait for symptoms to subside before returning to class and work. If your roommate has the sniffles, please practice good health habits like washing your hands and covering your cough. Whereas in most cases you do not need to see a doctor for a cold, Cowell Health Center is offering students small cold and flu self-care packets. Each packet contains an information sheet, some over-the-counter medications, and cough drops. Please feel free to come and pick one up. For more information, please visit Cold and Flu Prevention and Flu Tips pages. Stay safe and take care of yourself.

Update on Bay Area Face Covering Health Orders 

Indoor face-covering requirements in Santa Clara County have not changed. Santa Clara County is one of eight counties in the Bay Area that has reached a consensus on criteria to eventually lift health orders requiring masks and allow organizations to set requirements independently. SCU will continue to monitor County mask requirements, and we will determine what modifications we might make over time. For now, there are no changes to our indoor mask policy.

Vaccines and Booster Shots

Those who have received the J&J or the Moderna vaccine are not currently approved to receive a booster shot in the US. We are tracking discussions on booster shots and plan to host a second vaccine clinic on campus in January at the start of the winter quarter.

Check Out the Latest ‘Ask Professor Kat Saxton!’ Episode

In this episode, Professor Kat discusses self-administered tests, the importance of testing for COVID-19 to protect our community, and how to protect yourself during this cold and flu season.

As always, please email us at covid19@scu.edu if you have any questions. 

Stay safe and well,
SCU COVID-19 Operations Team