The University’s COVID-19 contact tracing program is in collaboration with the Hamilton County Health Department following CDC guidelines. UTC has assisted with community contact tracing since the pandemic emerged in 2020.
Contact tracing involves interviewing a positive case to assess health status and help identify household members and close contacts. Other types of information may also be used to identify contacts.
Positive Cases
Positive cases are required to self-isolate for at least 10 days. If a positive case is symptomatic, isolation may be longer. In general, household contacts are those who live with the positive case; close contacts are those who have been within six feet of the positive case for more than 15 minutes or have had direct exposure to respiratory secretions.
Quarantine for Close Contacts
Household contacts and close contacts are required to quarantine. The length of time of quarantine is determined by the date of exposure, whether symptoms are present and when/if the individual has a negative COVID-19 test. The UTC COVID-19 Campus Support Team helps students and employees determine how long to quarantine.
Household contacts who have ongoing contact with a case require longer quarantine.
UTC coordinates isolation or quarantine housing for residential students; employees and off-campus students must isolate or quarantine at home.
Learn more at utc.edu/isolate-quarantine.
Monitoring
The Campus Contact Tracing Team monitors positive cases and their household and close contacts through the end of isolation and quarantine. This is important to reinforce isolation and quarantine guidelines while monitoring the health status of the case and contacts.
All students and employees are responsible for monitoring their health daily. For the benefit of the entire community, students and employees must promptly respond to communications from the Campus Contact Tracing Team. The identity and privacy of those diagnosed with COVID-19 is protected in accordance with privacy laws and regulations.