In the wake of a Winthrop student testing positive for COVID-19, the university’s Human Resources department sent out an email to faculty and staff which was provided to The Johnsonian. The email noted that the “status of this pandemic is in an acceleration phase” citing what the university has heard from the “health care community.”
The email noted that South Carolina expects more residents to test positive in the coming weeks which could see the “opportunity for more positive diagnoses among members of the Winthrop community.”
According to the email, no one is allowed on campus unless they have received “explicit instructions” to do so.
“No employee (including faculty, staff, administrator, and student) is authorized to come to campus without prior approval of the divisional vice president,” the email said.
A communication from the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control was attached to the email which addressed DHEC’s investigation of the positive case of COVID-19 within the campus community.
“Anyone who had contact with the infected individual may have been exposed to this illness. In group settings, it can be difficult to determine who may have come in contact with an ill person and may become sick,” Midlands Regional Medical Director Henry G. Potter wrote in the letter from DHEC.
Potter further wrote that those who experience mild illness involving any of the symptoms of fever, cough and/or difficulty breathing and are concerned that they have COVID-19 should “[s]tay at home and avoid being around others while you have symptoms.” If the symptoms progress beyond a mild illness or if one deals with heart or lung conditions or a weakened immune system, they “should call [their] doctor or other medical provider to discuss testing” for the virus and to mention the letter received from DHEC.
As for those who “feel very sick” and believe that they need urgent medical care, they should contact their local emergency department so that appropriate arrangements can be made. For those who have symptoms but do not contact a healthcare provider, they should “stay home until at least [seven] days have passed since you started feeling sick and at least [three] days have passed without having a fever, whichever is longer.”
If one does not feel ill, “[y]ou do not need to be tested. There is no test for the disease until you have symptoms, so you should not plan to get tested before you feel sick. Not everyone who comes into contact with an ill person will get sick, and you may not have caught the virus,” Potter said in the letter.
Potter emphasized the importance of washing hands with soap and water “for at least 20 seconds” as well as covering coughs without using hands, avoiding touching the face, cleaning surfaces that are touched frequently and staying at home while ill except when going to receive medical attention.
“The virus spreads short distances of a few feet when someone infected with the virus coughs or sneezes. Only those who are close to a person with symptoms of COVID-19 for an extended period of time are likely to catch the virus this way. It can also be spread on surfaces touched by someone who is ill,” Potter wrote.
