Fall Break and COVID-19 Campus Operations Update

As we head into the Fall Break, the world is experiencing another dramatic rise in SARS-CoV-2 infections. Yesterday, Governor Gavin Newsom announced new State of California guidelines that included imploring every Californian to stay home if they can, wear a mask whenever they leave their homes, limit mixing, practice physical distancing and wash their hands.

Like the rest of our nation and the state, San Diego County has seen an increase in the number of positive cases. To help prevent further spread of the virus, the County Board of Health has issued an order to move business operations to the most restrictive, or purple, tier of the state's coronavirus reopening plan.

In light of the significant increase in viral activity and in response to the state’s new guidance, we are updating our campus requirements and recommendations. You have been extraordinary in your efforts—it is critical that you remain vigilant.

Masking requirement reinstituted for campus residents and visitors. Effective immediately, students living in campus-operated housing are required to maintain distance and wear masks at all times within their apartments and suites, except in their own bedrooms and the shower. Anyone visiting campus for class, research, work or to purchase essential goods (grocery or pharmacy) is required to maintain proper physical distance and wear a mask at all times.

Sequestration following unmasked off-campus activity. Any student who resides in campus-operated housing and who engages in any off-campus unmasked activity (sharing a meal, recreational activities, gatherings, etc.) is required to sequester for 14 days within their residential unit upon returning to campus. Sequestration requires the individual not only to be masked and distanced within the residential unit (with the exception of their personal bedroom and the shower) and to complete the daily screener, but also undergo additional COVID-19 testing on days 1, 5 and 10 after returning to campus.

Fall Break Travel Recommendation
Staying on campus during the fall break. Students residing in campus-operated housing are welcome to stay on campus for the full duration of Fall Break and remain on campus for the rest of Fall Quarter. Meals and health services will be available during Fall Break.

Traveling away from campus during the fall break. Students should get tested before they leave campus, preferably within 48 hours of leaving. Only those who test negative should leave campus. Students who test positive will receive a phone call from Student Health Services with additional guidance on medical care. We strongly recommend that any student who travels away from campus for Fall Break should not return to campus until the start of Winter Quarter in January 2021.

Read specific guidelines for travel and requirements for returning to campus after Fall Break.

Weekly Testing
In light of the recent rise in cases around San Diego County, student and staff testing for COVID-19 will begin testing on a weekly basis at no cost, starting November 30.

Guidelines for Instructors
Based on guidance from the state and the San Diego County Public Health Department, in order to protect the health and safety of our campus community, instructors will need to swiftly transition to a modified set of course modalities for the rest of fall quarter:

Training classes for essential workers may be taught in-person indoors, in-person outdoors, or in remote mode.
All other classes, whether lecture, discussion, seminar, lab, or studio may be taught either remotely or outdoors; per public health guidance, they cannot be taught in-person indoors any longer.This policy applies to all persons at all UC San Diego locations.

If you are an instructor whose course has included an in-person course element, please transition that course element to remote or outdoor teaching as soon as possible, and no later than Monday, November 23; once you have chosen the new teaching modality, please inform the ASE’s for your courses, along with your dean, chair, and students.

An FAQ webpage has been developed for questions about the transition to remote and outdoor teaching. To explore the possibility of teaching outdoors, please email AVC-EI Carlos Jensen about scheduling and logistics.

Thank You
I am very proud of our entire Triton community for demonstrating care on and off campus and for adhering to our protocols that have made our campus an example of how to safely repopulate a top-tier research campus. UC San Diego is a model for universities and school systems across the globe.

Let’s keep up the good work. Keep your distance, wear your mask, clean work surfaces frequently, complete your daily screening, test every week, and install the California COVID Notify App on your mobile phone.

I encourage you to stay safe as we all work to reduce the impact of COVID-19 around the world. Enjoy your Fall Break.

Pradeep K. Khosla
Chancellor