Dear Members of the Lehigh Community,
Now that the semester is well underway and we’ve all begun to adjust to a new approach to campus life and the increased importance of taking good care of ourselves and each other, we want to remind you of a key component of our campus health and safety plan: the COVID-19 Self-Assessment tool. As you know, this tool was implemented to keep our campus safe and to help students, faculty and staff monitor their health to determine whether or not they should come to campus on a particular day. Many thanks to those of you who have already been completing this daily task.
We are now beginning the next phase of the tool’s implementation.
Your access to campus facilities on a particular day is linked to your completion of the self-assessment and to that day’s results. This email includes important information about the requirements and actions you need to take to obtain and maintain building access.
Building Access and How It Works
Students, faculty, staff and visitors are required to complete this self-assessment each day through the HawkWatch app or a web-based version. It’s easy to do, takes just a few minutes, and allows you to carefully consider how you are feeling each day.
Following your completion of the daily self-assessment, you will be provided with an on-screen confirmation in the form of a colorized QR code (green, orange or red). The QR code confirms your status to access the Lehigh campus and affiliated facilities for that day.
To gain access:
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You should complete the self-assessment at least an hour before you are scheduled to come to campus so that you will be granted the proper building access.
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If you do not complete your self-assessment, you will not have access to any campus buildings. If living on campus, you would only have access to your residence hall and would need to complete the self-assessment before accessing any campus buildings.
Reminders: You will receive a reminder through the HawkWatch app. Please check and make sure your notifications are enabled within the HawkWatch app. Go to “About/Preferences”- Notification Settings and make sure it reads that the notifications are enabled.
If you receive a green QR code, you are approved to come to campus and will be granted access to campus facilities for the next 24 hours following your completion of the self-assessment. You must still complete the self-assessment each day you plan to come to campus.
You will receive an orange QR code if you did not indicate any symptoms in your self-assessment, but did not take your temperature. In this case, you are approved to access campus but must take your temperature for your self-assessment the next day. Your building access will be revoked after failing to take your temperature three times in a row.
Do not use your card to allow others to gain access to campus facilities. It may seem rude to not hold the door for others or to not allow others to enter behind you when entering a building, but it is important that each individual gain access by swiping their own cards. This is important for general security reasons, but especially now as each member of our community is being asked to self-monitor for symptoms and to complete the daily screening tool.
If you receive a Red QR code:
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You are not approved to come to campus. Although a red code does not mean you have COVID-19, you should consider carefully the symptoms you identified or your responses to the other questions in the self-assessment to determine your next steps.
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If you are an undergraduate or graduate student and you have received a red QR code, you should remain in your student housing or off-campus residence and call the LU Health and Wellness Center at 610-758-3870 for further guidance. If you answered yes to any of the symptoms, even if you do not believe that your symptoms are related to COVID-19, you should still stay home to care for yourself and protect the health of others. The Health and Wellness Center will assess other conditions that may have caused your symptoms and will be able to advise an individualized plan. Contact your instructors to inform them that you will not be attending in-person classes that day.
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If you are a faculty or staff member and you have received a red QR code, you should remain home and contact your supervisor to inform them that you will not be coming to campus. If you think your symptoms might be related to COVID-19, you can contact our LVHN Employee Health Nurse Case Manager, Terri Latvis, RN, at 610-861-8080 x21237 Teresa.Latvis@lvhn.org for guidance. Through this process, you will be able to talk confidentially about any symptoms to determine whether or not they are COVID-19 related. Terri will be able to direct you when it is appropriate to contact your primary care physician.
You will receive a daily reminder to complete your self-assessment. If you plan to access campus, please make it a part of your routine.
It Starts with You
Our ability to stay together as a limited on-campus community depends upon the decisions and actions of each one of us. Please be honest and thorough in your self-assessments. Your health and how you are feeling—and the reasons why you might be feeling a particular way—can have a tremendous ripple effect if not handled appropriately. The inconvenience of a missed on-campus opportunity or a missed day of class or work cannot overshadow the importance of the health of our community.
In taking care of ourselves, we take care of each other, and the Lehigh and Bethlehem communities as well. This is the only way to ensure a successful semester.
Nathan Urban
Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
Chris Halladay
Associate Vice President, Human Resources