What if I have concerns about disregard of safety precautions?

UCF has seen some employees and students test positive for COVID-19. The vast majority of UCF’s cases have involved students who are either asymptomatic or experienced only minor symptoms.

Most of the recent cases involve students who said they have not been on campus during the time they could have impacted others. Many are the result of our contact tracing efforts – reaching out to others who have had close contact with someone who has tested positive and testing them. We hope these efforts will help to reduce the spread as more members of the UCF community become aware they have tested positive.

We encourage anyone who finds themselves experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 to get tested at one of the UCF testing sites or at a location near them. Testing is important for tracking the virus and tracing to prevent further community spread, and we are already seeing that this process is effective.

View the UCF COVID dashboard for more information.

Robust tracing of COVID-19 cases at UCF will help the university identify and contain potentially impacted populations. UCF will continue to partner with state and local health officials to regularly monitor rates of new cases. Student volunteers will partner with the Florida Department of Health as contact tracers beginning this summer and will work with faculty from the College of Medicine and College of Nursing.

If you become ill with symptoms of COVID-19, stay home and contact your primary care physician, who will determine whether testing or treatment is needed. Avoid contact with other people and social gatherings to keep from spreading your illness to others. Employees should also notify their supervisor that they are ill and not able to return to work and follow the instructions of their healthcare provider.

UCF students and employees should call the UCF COVID Line to obtain an ordered test at 407-823-2509

Also follow these best practices while awaiting test results and if you test positive for COVID-19:

• Do not leave your home, except to get medical care, until cleared by your healthcare provider.
• Do not share household items.
• Wear a mask around others if contact is necessary.
• Report if you have tested positive for COVID-19 by calling the UCF COVID Line at 407-823-2509

If there is the possibility that you have been exposed to COVID-19 because a colleague has tested positive, you will be notified directly. Through contact tracing, the Department of Health will assess and inform all persons who may be at risk and require quarantine and/or testing. In line with public health practices and medical and student privacy laws, only those who would need to know about confirmed COVID-19 cases for personal health and safety reasons will be informed.

The Department of Health will notify UCF of all known or suspected cases at UCF, and confirmed cases will be shared with the public via a forthcoming dashboard feature on the COVID-19 website that lists confirmed cases of COVID-19 that involve a student or faculty or staff member. The dashboard will be generic in nature, in accordance with medical and student privacy laws and public health best practices.

Campus housing, Environmental Health and Safety or other areas will be apprised of known or suspected cases and the need for isolation, quarantine and appropriate cleaning and disinfecting measures.

If you know that you have had close contact with a co-worker, visitor, family member or other individual who has confirmed COVID-19 you should stay home and contact your primary care physician, who will determine whether testing or treatment is needed. Avoid contact with other people and social gatherings to keep from spreading your illness to others. Employees should also notify their supervisor that they are ill and not able to return to work and follow the instructions of their healthcare provider.

A high-risk exposure generally involves exposure of eyes, nose or mouth, particularly if the individual was in contact of less than 6 feet for a period more than 15 minutes with a person infected with COVID-19.

Yes. Frequently washing your hands with soap and water is the best way to get rid of germs and viruses and protect yourself from COVID-19, but if that is not available, an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60 percent alcohol will work.

UCF ordered an additional 1,200 hand sanitizing stations and 2,000 cases of refills. The stations are strategically placed around campus in high-traffic areas and near commonly touched surfaces, such as near the doors at building entry points.

Yes, additional and enhanced cleaning will take place in common spaces and areas where there are frequently touched surfaces, including hallways, stairways, restrooms and elevators.

Employees will be responsible for cleaning and maintaining their individual workspaces, including desks, chairs and computer equipment.

Classrooms will be cleaned daily. Additional and enhanced cleaning will take place in common spaces and areas where there are frequently touched surfaces, and disinfecting wipes will be available so that students can clean individual work spaces.

In addition, UCF has ordered an additional 1,200 hand sanitizing stations and 2,000 cases of refills. The stations will be strategically placed around campus in high-traffic areas and near commonly touched surfaces, such as near the doors at building entry points.

Measures being taken address ventilation, filtration, administrative controls and sterilization technology. Ventilation and filtration provided by HVAC systems can reduce the airborne concentrates of SARS-CoV-2 and, thus, reduce the risk of transmission through the air.

Filtration: UCF’s research facilities utilize MERV 9 pre-filters and MERV 14 final filters. UCF will continue to adhere to the maintenance schedules for quarterly, semi-annual and annual filter changes for all HVAC systems on campus.

Ventilation: UCF will continue to maintain design ventilation rates that are determined by ASHRAE standards for air change rates based on each building’s application.

Administrative controls: UCF is working with the Registrar’s Office on class start times and cleaning schedules, and will provide further updates when the Fall Classroom Seating Task Force further refines the model for opening in fall semester. This will result in an increase in overall ventilation effectiveness per occupant, as the design ACH rates will remain in place or increase where possible, while the population in each building is anticipated to decrease.

Sterilization technology: The university is installing additional ultraviolet-bandwidth energy (UV-C) lighting in air handler units serving instructional and administrative offices. While UV-C will not mitigate transmission risk of SARS and COVID-19 within campus buildings’ HVAC air streams, the ultraviolet energy will help inactivate the DNA and RNA of most viral, bacterial, and fungal organisms so that they are unable to replicate. The kill rate for UV-C is based on a factor of time and exposure to the light. Note that even with high-intensity UV-C irradiation, the deactivation rate will not be 100% for all biological particles.

The energy of ultraviolet light (UV-C) filtration is currently used in some air handlers on campus, as it is effective in disrupting the reproductive DNA and RNA of infectious pathogens and helps maintain a clean and sterile environment inside the air handlers. UV-C technology is currently being installed in select high-density instructional, administrative offices and operational support buildings. Buildings that are already 100% outside air, single pass airstream by design are not currently slated for UV-C lighting rollouts as none of those air systems have any return air from the occupied spaces. AHU systems in research buildings that do utilize mixed return and outside air (offices, classrooms) are slated for UV-C lighting.

Routine Testing remains available to our faculty, staff and students via AVENTUS in Garage A main campus Monday-Friday 9-5 and Saturday 1-5.  COVID Line nurses use standing orders for faculty, staff and students who request testing.  Also, SHS, UCF Health, and community providers may order testing through AVENTUS.  This testing is via nasal pharyngeal (NP) samples with PCR testing. Results are available within 48 hours.  Cost is a patient responsibility (has been covered by insurance).

Move-in Testing approximately 6,000 students during August for students on main campus, downtown campus and Rosen campus.  Testing was via NP samples and PCR testing with results in 48 hours.  AVENTUS labs performed the testing with up to 800 students per day.  Considerations include performing a randomized selection as opposed to requiring all residents to be tested.

Random Testing is by selection of groups which may be at higher risk of COVID.  Via a randomized selection process a subset of the group is identified for testing.  This testing is primarily designed to measure prevalence of COVID within selected groups but also identifies persons who may be infectious.  Testing has initially been performed via AVENTUS with NP swabs and PCR testing.  We  will be migrating October 26th  to testing this group at SHS on the main campus Health Center using observed self-collection of nasal samples and the Abbott ID Now molecular testing system.  Results will be same day and we anticipate selecting 110 persons for each testing event.  I anticipate conducting this random testing every two weeks for the next year.  Cost for this required testing is covered by the UCF Cares money.