To: HSC Faculty, Staff and Students
From: Dr. Janice Knebl, Chief Medical Officer
As emailed from the HSC News Office on July 20, 2022
Tarrant County increased its COVID-19 Community Transmission Level to high. Likewise, HSC is experiencing an increase in COVID-positive cases in both students and employees. As more people are on campus, it’s important to remember how best to protect yourself and others. It is recommended that you:
• Wear a mask
• Distance yourself 6 feet from others
• Avoid poorly ventilated spaces
• Practice excellent hand hygiene
• Clean and disinfect high touch surfaces often
Another important reminder is to monitor your health daily. Be alert for fever, cough, shortness of breath or sinus symptoms. If you have any symptoms, testing is available in Student Health and Priority Care. Here are a few things to keep in mind when testing:
• Antigen tests are great at detecting highly infectious people. You can expect the average antigen test to catch 78% to 97% of cases in the first week of symptoms.
• False negatives are more common at the beginning of infection, especially with Omicron. If you have any symptoms, do not trust a negative test. Assume you have COVID19 and re-test in 24-48 hours. It will likely turn positive given the high transmission rates right now.
• If you have the virus and are asymptomatic, you can expect the average antigen test to catch 44% to 70% of cases. This is good but not perfect.
Please report a positive COVID test result to HSCCOVID@unthsc.edu. Be sure to include #HSCSECURE in the subject line. Remember, not everyone’s course is the same. Nor does everyone recover at the same rate. Should your symptoms worsen, linger or give you concern, be sure to consult your primary care practitioner for next steps. Taking care of yourself and others is an important part of what we do here at HSC. Stay safe!
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/prevention.html