COVID-19 Information
Keeping Wellesley Healthy: Stay up to date with cases on campus and learn about precautions Wellesley College is taking during the COVID-19 pandemic
Other Resources:
- CDC: COVID-19 information, facts, important updates
- Massachusetts DPH: MA response to COVID-19, including information about vaccination roll out
- Wellesley Board of Health: statistics and response specific to the town of Wellesley
- Newton Wellesley Hospital: information from our hospital partner
COVID testing on campus
1. Asymptomatic Pool Testing (if you have no symptoms)
- RT-PCR testing
- Performed at COVID testing sites on campus (College Club and Beebe Dining Hall)
- Students tested twice per week
- Anterior nares testing, self administered
- Performed through the Broad Institute
- Results typically available within 24-hours
- Results available online
What happens if there is a positive pool?
- Members of the positive pool will be called back for individual testing that will include:
- Rapid Antigen test- results within 15 minutes
- RT-PCR test- results within 24 hours
- Quarantine/Isolation protocols will be followed as appropriate based on positive individual tests
- Individuals will not be quarantined/isolated until individual testing is performed
2. Symptomatic Testing (if you have symptoms)
- RT-PCR testing
- Performed at Health Services (when open). After hours testing can be arranged at a Newton-Wellesley testing site
- Students tested only if symptomatic and recommended by Health Services
- Anterior nares or nasopharyngeal testing
- Performed through Newton-Wellesley Hospital or the Broad Institute
- Coming soon: Rapid PCR testing availability in Health Services!
- Results typically available within 24-hours
- Results available online
Reporting symptoms
Please let Health Services know ASAP about any new symptoms you may be experiencing.
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Call Health Services at 781-283-2810
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Fill out the daily Symptom Tracker
Symptoms may include:
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fever, body aches, unexplained fatigue, loss of taste or smell, nasal congestion, cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, nausea/vomiting/diarrhea
If you are experiencing symptoms, stay in your room until you speak with Health Services!
Quarantine and Isolation
Quarantine: you are a close contact of a positive COVID case (you have been exposed but are not positive for COVID)
If you are fully vaccinated:
- No quarantine is required if you have no symptoms
- You will be required to test on day 3-5 after the exposure
- You will be required to wear your mask consistently for 7 days
- You should monitor symptoms carefully and report any symptoms to Health Services
If you are not fully vaccinated:
- You will quarantine for 10 days from the last contact you had with the case (as long as you have no symptoms and test negative on Day 8).
- Quarantine space in the College Club (private bathrooms)
- You will continue to be tested in your quarantine room
- Daily check-ins from Health Services
Isolation: you have COVID-19
- You will isolate for 10 days from the positive test or day of first symptoms
- Isolation space in Dower (shared bathrooms)
- You will not be re-tested for 90 days after your positive test
- Daily check- ins from Health services
Vaccination
Students are required to be fully vaccinated in order to be on campus. A very limited number of exemptions have been granted.
Please contact Health Services if you need assistance with vaccinations
- Documentation of any vaccine received to Health Services via email or uploaded directly to the Patient Portal.
Uploading vaccination forms to Patient Gateway
- Log into Patient Gateway
- Go To “Ask a question”
- You can click on this directly from the right sidebar
OR
- You can click Messaging on the top sidebar → Ask a question
- Click on “Non-Urgent Question"
- Click on the drop down “Choose a Recipient” and select Health Service Provider (Jennifer Schwartz or Patricia Wefald)
*If you do not see either of these names, this means you have never ben seen for a visit at our office. In this case, please call us at 781.283.2810 during business hours and we can send you an email to reply to. - Click on the drop down “Select a Subject” and select “Non-Urgent Medical” Question”
- You can write a brief message in the text box (ie: Here is my COVID vaccine proof.
- To upload forms, click on the “Attach an Image” button on the bottom of the screen
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Hit send when all the fields are filled in and the documents are attached
Testing for travel
If you need to obtain a PCR COVID-19 test before traveling, find a test site near campus or Health Services can place an order for you to have the test done at Newton-Wellesley Hospital.