Dear Faculty and Staff,
Merry Christmas! We know most of you are away from campus, eager to mark the holidays in safe and fun ways, and perhaps not yet thinking too much about 2021. Still, we wanted to let you know about some of the things planned for a return to Calvin in the new year in terms of screening.
All students, staff and faculty will be asked in January to participate in another round of COVID screening tests. These tests will help us better mitigate any risk of virus spread as hundreds of us come back to campus.
And though return dates have shifted slightly for some of us, the screening process will be available whenever you return to work in person. If you are working immediately after the New Year (particularly Campus Safety, Creative Dining, and Facilities staff), you are encouraged to sign up for a screening test on the afternoon of January 4.
To schedule your test, please visit our COVID screening Eventbrite site and register for a time that works for you. The registration process includes a form to print and fill out prior to your test.
There should be plenty of times available, but make sure to contact responseteam@calvin.edu if you have any problems or questions about scheduling. We will accept test results that you receive elsewhere if the test is within three days of your return to campus. For off-campus screening tests, please submit your results electronically using the COVID Reporting Form.
Note that if you have had a verified case of COVID-19 in the 90 days prior to your return to campus, you do NOT need to participate in our screening process. If you haven't reported your previous case to Calvin, please do so using the COVID Reporting Form and attach the documentation you received at the time of your diagnosis.
Calvin will be utilizing a rapid antigen test for this round of screenings. While excellent at identifying cases of contagious infection, even when a person is asymptomatic, these tests are still a point in time and can't guarantee that you won't develop COVID-19 in the days after your return to work.
For that reason, we'll ask everyone to carefully self-monitor and reduce unnecessary travel and contact with people outside your own living pod for several days before and after your return.
Start using the Campus Clear app again on your first day of work in person and report any symptoms you may be having using the COVID Reporting Form.
Finally, if a person tests positive for coronavirus at their screening, a PCR test will be required to confirm the initial rapid antigen positive result. Helix will be an option for employees in such a situation, but insurance will be billed. Obtaining a confirmation PCR test from your primary care provider is also an option.
The 2020 Christmas season will be a complicated time for celebrations, an uncertain end to an uncertain year. But we celebrate with joy for all of God's good gifts and for the promise of Immanuel, God with us – a light that breaks through the darkness around us. And we celebrate with hope for 2021, leaning on the promises of Christmas and the certainties of God's goodness and grace, now and always.
~The COVID Response Team
P.S. If you’re interested in what the new test process will be like, please see the video that was put together for Calvin students on the Calvin YouTube channel.