What Happens When Someone Tests Positive for COVID-19
As soon as Georgetown’s Care Navigation team learns that someone in our campus community has tested positive for COVID-19, we contact the individual to provide specific guidance on isolation and next steps based on CDC and DC Department of Health recommendations.
About Contact Tracing
Contact tracing is an important public health measure used to limit the spread of communicable diseases. The aim of contact tracing for COVID-19 is to stop the chain of transmission by guiding people who test positive to isolate, and identifying and notifying their close contacts so they may take extra precautions or quarantine as needed.
How You Can Help with Contact Tracing
If you test positive, stay home, put on a properly-fitting, high-quality mask (e.g. N95, KN95, KF94), and maintain distance if you live with others. If you have tested through One Medical on campus, Georgetown will be automatically notified of your result (usually a few hours after you receive it), and we will provide guidance on isolation and next steps. If you have tested externally, please report your test results to Georgetown in a timely manner by submitting the COVID Test Result Submission Form.
Review your calendar and your work or class schedule to remember who you have spent time around in the days before your positive test.
If you teach a class or work on campus, take attendance at classes, meetings, and events.
Please inform the people you had close contact with, starting the two days before you started to feel symptoms or before you took your test through the day you tested positive. “Close contact” is considered to be spending time within 6 feet of each other for at least 15 minutes, cumulative over a 24-hour period.
If You Have Symptoms
Symptoms of COVID-19 may mimic those of allergies, the common cold and the flu.
If you have any symptoms that could be consistent with COVID-19 (e.g., sore throat, cough, runny nose, etc.), please stay home – except to get tested – and report your symptoms to Georgetown’s Care Navigation team by completing the COVID-19 Symptom Check-In survey.
COVID-19 testing is available on campus on weekdays, at no charge to you. You can also get tested for free at one of DC’s COVID-19 testing sites or through DC’s self-testing program. If you get tested off campus, please report your test results to Georgetown in a timely manner by submitting the COVID Test Result Submission Form. Students (especially those who develop symptoms) may also schedule a visit with Georgetown’s Student Health Center.
If You Have Been Exposed But Don’t Have Symptoms
Please review the University’s Quarantine and Isolation page for guidance on what to do if you’ve been in close contact with someone who has tested positive (i.e., less than 6 feet away from an infected person for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period), which differs based on vaccination status.
Contact Us
If you have additional questions or concerns, please contact our Care Navigator team at carenavigators@georgetown.edu.