CETL Student Pages

The student will notify ECU Health Services by phone at 580-559-5713 immediately upon learning of the positive test. The student will provide the following information: name, contact information and the medical facility where the student tested. 

ECU Health Services will:

• Work with the student to complete a Positive COVID-19 Questionnaire and submit documentation of the positive test
• Obtain a signed Authorization for Access by Patient or Disclosure of Protected Health Information release form, if needed, to inform campus entities that are affected
• Will relay information to the Pontotoc County Health Department, which will take over contact tracing with the student

ECU Health Services, upon a signed release form, will inform:

• Residential Students (Director of Housing)
• Athletes (Athletic Director)
• Student Employees (Director of Employment Services)
• Classroom Faculty (Provost, or appointee)
• Sanitization (Director of Facilities Management)

Students should follow the guidance of ECU Health Services, the Pontotoc County Health Department and/or their personal physicians before returning to campus. Current requirements for returning to campus after a positive test include 10 days isolation with symptoms improving and fever free without the aid of fever-reducing medication for three days. If the fever occurred on the eighth or ninth day in isolation, the student needs to be fever free for 72 hours without the aid of fever-reducing medication.

Minimizing Exposure/Contact Tracing

ECU Health Services will coordinate with the Pontotoc County Health Department, which will determine which students and/or employees may have been exposed to the virus and need to take additional precautions. In addition:

• Students who test positive for COVID-19 (using a viral test, not an antibody test) will be restricted from the ECU campus and remain in home/campus isolation if they do not need to be hospitalized. 
• ECU follows the Public Health Recommendations for Community-Related Exposure and instructs students directly exposed to a positive COVID-19 case to stay home for 14 days if a commuter student and self-monitor for symptoms. If a residential student, follow ECU Housing and Residence Life protocols.

Infected students should follow CDC-recommended steps. Infected students should not return to campus until they have met the criteria to discontinue home/campus isolation and have consulted with a healthcare provider. Antibody test results will not solely be used by ECU to make decisions about returning students to campus.

Campus Notifications  

The President’s Office will send out weekly updates identifying the number of positive COVID-19 cases in the ECU campus community.  

Building/Office Space Cleaning

ECU may close off areas used for prolonged periods of time by the infected person to facilitate necessary sanitization. Such areas might include:

• Housing
• Classroom
• Work space (if applicable)
• Other

The entities listed above will coordinate with the Physical Plant to initiate cleaning and disinfecting the exposed areas. To minimize potential exposure for Physical Plant employees to COVID-19 respiratory droplets, such employees may wait as long as 24 hours from identification of an infected person on campus to begin cleaning and disinfecting the exposed areas. 

ECU will follow the CDC cleaning and disinfection recommendations including:

• Cleaning dirty surfaces with soap and water before disinfecting them.
•  Disinfecting surfaces, using products that meet EPA criteria for use against SARS-Cov-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 and are appropriate for the surface.
• Follow the instructions on the product labels to ensure safe and effective use of the product.