Fordham Implements Contact Tracing Procedures

When an individual tests positive for COVID-19, Public Safety implements contact tracing protocols to determine potential exposure based on proximity. If a student was closer than six feet to the COVID-positive person for more than 15 minutes in a 24-hour period, they may have been exposed.

“We do it manually. We speak to the COVID-positive person … and then we ask them to try to recall where they’ve been the last couple of days,” Associate Vice President for Public Safety John Carroll said.

To aid in contact tracing, Public Safety is asking professors to create seating charts or take pictures of their classes to help them know who has been close enough to be exposed.

Students who have had a potential exposure can receive a PCR test for free from University Health Services (UHS).

Carroll said seating charts are important when identifying where those with vaccination exemptions were sitting because if unvaccinated students are far enough away from the infected individual, they do not have to quarantine. If a student tests positive for COVID-19, Public Safety will contact them with instructions on what to do next.

When students are potentially exposed, Public Safety asks them to get a PCR test within three to five days of exposure, though testing is not required, according to Carroll. 

“We are not mandating (testing), we are not checking whether they did it because there’s no real point in doing that,” Carroll said. “The point is, if they did not do that, to take care of their own health, then where do we go from there?”

Before Sept. 20, all PCR tests had a $35 out-of-pocket charge for students, although most insurances reimburse the charge, according to Campbell. Now, students who have had a potential exposure can receive a PCR test for free from University Health Services (UHS).