Dear Colleagues,

With the start of the academic year nearing, we are excited to again convene our community in-person. To assist in your planning, we are writing all Brown faculty and staff with important COVID-19 health and safety information, ongoing requirements, and reminders regarding the Fall 2022 semester. Separately, we’re in touch with all Brown students about pre-arrival guidance and other student protocols, and that communication will be available in full on the Healthy Brown website today.

At this time, there are no significant new COVID-19 measures or major changes to current University operations expected for the start of the new academic year. While we continue to actively monitor and support Brown community members who report positive COVID-19 test results, we have seen no recent indication of widespread transmission or instances of severe illness or hospitalization and all counties in the state are now considered low-risk areas according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) COVID-19 Community Levels risk assessment.

This summer we began to transition our operations to managing COVID-19 on campus in a similar way to how other infectious diseases are managed, and we expect to continue that this fall. As has been the case throughout the pandemic, our planning is based on expert medical and public health guidance — if public health conditions change, we will take appropriate steps at that time.

Below, we include some important updates and reminders about COVID-19 protocols, and outline and describe in greater detail the following:

• Vaccination requirements
• Testing and masking
• Reporting and isolation protocols

In the coming days, Provost Richard M. Locke will follow up with the full community with some additional information about Brown’s approach to instruction for Fall 2022 courses. The Campus Activity Status page on the Healthy Brown website remains the best guide for information on current COVID-19 measures in place, and the University will complete a comprehensive update to the full Healthy Brown website over the coming weeks.

We will also communicate separately, this month, about the global outbreak of orthopoxvirus (monkeypox).

VACCINATION REQUIREMENTS

The Brown community’s compliance with the University’s COVID-19 vaccination requirement has been essential to maintaining in-person academic and administrative operations over the last year, and the requirement that all community members remain up to date with their COVID-19 vaccinations will remain in place for the entire 2022-23 academic year.

Current employees who have already documented their vaccination status do not need to do anything further; new employees are required to upload their vaccination cards when they join the Brown community. If you have recently joined the University and have not yet provided vaccination documentation, please do so as soon as possible. Visit the Verify Your Vaccination page on the Healthy Brown website for instructions.

If you have already received an approved medical or religious exemption from the COVID-19 vaccine from University Human Resources (UHR), you will continue to be exempt from this requirement. If you have not previously received an exemption and wish to request one, information regarding how to do so is available on the COVID-19 Vaccine FAQs page on the Healthy Brown website.

TESTING AND MASKING

Brown employees (and students) are no longer required to conduct routine testing (regardless of vaccination status) and are only required to test if they experience COVID-19 symptoms.

Rapid antigen tests are widely available from a variety of sources, and insurance companies are now reimbursing the costs of tests. Information about test availability is included on the Benefits page of the UHR website. Community members should consider taking a rapid antigen test when experiencing COVID-19 symptoms.

Mask wearing is now optional for all Brown community members, regardless of vaccination status, and including on the Brown shuttle. While masking is optional, those who are unvaccinated can help limit their risk of transmission by continuing to wear masks. Related details can be found on the Campus Activity Status page of the Healthy Brown website.

Noted exceptions to the optional masking policy — where wearing masks continues to be required — include:

• health care facilities, including the Health and Wellness Center;
• the Warren Alpert Medical School;
• classes where the instructor requires students to wear masks; and
• meetings where the host requires attendees to wear masks (for example, a staff member meeting with a student in their office may require the student to wear a mask during the meeting).

REPORTING AND ISOLATION PROTOCOLS

Brown continues to require that individuals who test positive for COVID-19 report results to UHR (send a copy of your test results to leave_admin@health.brown.edu) and self-isolate for a period of five (5) days, per CDC guidelines. The 5-day period applies regardless of previous infection, vaccination or booster status, and the presence or absence of symptoms.

• To calculate your 5-day isolation period, day 0 is your first day of symptoms OR your asymptomatic positive test date (whichever is earlier).
• Day 1 is the first full day after your symptoms developed or positive test result.
• On day 5 you can take a rapid antigen test, and if the result is negative (do not send in the negative test results) and you have no symptoms or improving symptoms, you are released from isolation.
• Employees may also end isolation (without a negative rapid antigen test) 5 full days after testing positive if they are fever-free for 24 hours (without the use of fever-reducing medication) and symptoms are improving.
• If employees have been very sick from COVID-19 and your symptoms and fever are not improving or you have a weakened immune system, isolation is recommended for at least 10 days.
• If you are able to end isolation on day 5, it is important to wear a well-fitting mask around others for 5 additional days, even at home.

Employees are responsible for providing to your manager the dates on which you are not able to be on campus. With the COVID-19 paid special leave policy for staff discontinued this summer, employees will be able to use their own personal time off or apply for medical leave after 5 days as needed.

If your symptoms continue after your required 5-day isolation period, please contact your primary care physician and email leave_admin@health.brown.edu with a copy of your updated medical note from your physician. This note should include the length in which you are required to self-isolate and a date on which your provider is releasing you from self-isolation. Upon reporting back to campus/work, please be sure to wear a tight-fitting mask, such as a KN95, for at least five days anytime you are on campus.

IN CONCLUSION

We look forward to welcoming the full Brown community to campus for the fall semester. Together, by adhering to the health and safety measures outlined above, we can anticipate successful, in-person campus activity that supports Brown’s education, research and operations. We thank you for your diligence in following University requirements and guidance around COVID-19 and for your commitment to protecting the health of the entire community.

Sincerely,

Marie Williams
Vice President for Human Resources