Dear Off-Campus Student:
In the past week we have identified 11 positive cases of COVID-19 among students living off-campus in the neighborhoods adjacent to campus, including Georgetown, Burleith and Foxhall. To put this into perspective, our previous weekly high was five positive cases.
Our public health team has connected with the affected individuals regarding medical care and isolation, and has performed contact tracing and provided support services, as appropriate. The team has also been in touch with the students’ reported close contacts and recommended they enter a 14-day quarantine.
In order to be successful at preventing and containing the spread of the virus in our community, I wanted to highlight a few important issues:
- Contact tracing conducted by our public health team and by the DC government is essential to preventing further community spread. Any information you provide during contact tracing that would not have otherwise been known to the University will NOT be shared with the Office of Student Conduct.
- If you take a test with an outside provider and you receive a positive result, let us know as soon as possible so we can offer support services if needed and assess exposure to others in your circles and our community. You can email our team at covid19-test-results@georgetown.edu or covidcarenavigator@georgetown.edu.
- If you think you have been exposed to somebody who has tested positive for COVID-19, we can help facilitate a rapid test on campus; there is no need to go to an outside testing facility. Please email our COVID Care Navigator team.
- If you haven’t already, please sign up for testing with One Medical so you can have access to free weekly testing on campus or via mail. Getting tested is fast and easy.
- Please also make sure you have signed the One Medical consent form (open the One Medical app, select “COVID-19 Daily Check-in,” and click “sign the consent form” under “First time users,”and indicate “Georgetown University” as the party authorized to receive your COVID-19 test results).
- Make a testing appointment at McDonough Gym through the One Medical app or website.
- Order a weekly at-home test kit (which you can return to a FedEx box or by scheduling a FedEx pickup at no cost to you). You can also drop off the FedEx box at the Guard House next to Healy Gates at 37th and O streets from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. Your swab should be picked up or dropped off on the same day you collect it.
To help keep you and your friends safe, we urge you to limit your in-person interactions with people outside your household. It is important for our community to follow the health and safety guidelines of the University, the District of Columbia and the federal government. This includes wearing masks indoors when not with individuals from your own household, maintaining at least six feet apart from others and limiting your social activities to outdoor spaces. We know it is hard, but it is an important measure to stop community spread.
To follow our University’s COVID-19 key case metrics, please check out the University’s COVID-19 Dashboard.
Every Hoya, Everywhere has a role to play in keeping our community healthy and safe.
Thank you for all your efforts to do so.
Dr. Ranit Mishori, MD, MHS, FAAFP
Professor of Family Medicine, Interim Chief Public Health Officer