Find everything you need to know about living, learning and working on campus as we focus our efforts on maintaining community health.
Updated 9/7/23
As we begin the fall semester, Emmons Wellness Center would like to provide some COVID-19 reminders and updates. As the state and federal COVID health emergencies were lifted in the spring, we are focusing our efforts on maintaining community health, while also recognizing that COVID is nearing a more endemic stage, and is something we are adjusting to living with and managing as we do other respiratory illnesses and communicable diseases.
Please continue to take proper precautions to keep yourself and others healthy, including:
- Staying home when you are sick
- Getting tested when you have symptoms or have been exposed to COVID
- Masking in crowded indoor spaces
- Masking around others for ten days when you have a known exposure to COVID
- Staying up-to-date on COVID boosters
- Alerting covidops@oxy.edu if you test positive for COVID (at Emmons or elsewhere)
Testing
- Fall COVID testing is available Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Emmons Wellness Center.
- Student testing is open to students with symptoms and those who may have been exposed to COVID.
- Employee testing is available to employees who receive an exposure notification. Employees experiencing symptoms should stay home. Search for a testing site near you.
- Opt-in testing is no longer offered.
Masking
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Masking in Emmons is required for the following:
- Anyone with respiratory symptoms (cough, sore throat, runny nose)
- Individuals who have tested positive for COVID
- Employees when working directly with patients or in patient-care areas when patients are present
Those who don't fall into any of the categories above are strongly recommended to wear a mask when in Emmons, particularly when patients are present, but are no longer required to do so. - Masks are strongly recommended in other indoor and crowded outdoor settings.
- Faculty may require masking within their classroom spaces.
Positive COVID Test?
Employees and students should notify the COVID Operations team immediately if they learn they have tested positive for COVID, outside of campus-provided testing, by emailing covidops@oxy.edu. Please contact COVID Operations via email with any questions or concerns about your positive test or isolation period.
Isolation Period
Los Angeles County Public Health now requires a 5-10 day isolation period for anyone who tests positive for COVID. The length of isolation depends on the severity of illness and symptoms. Oxy will continue to follow Los Angeles County guidelines for contact tracing and exposure management when we identify positive cases on campus. More details on isolation
Vaccination
Oxy’s updated policy states that all students, staff, and faculty are strongly recommended to be up-to-date on COVID-19 vaccinations. As of June 2023, there is no longer a vaccine requirement.