Morningside University: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Updates

• Conduct a self-assessment to be aware of your overall health and wellness; stay home if you feel unwell or are displaying symptoms such as a cough, shortness of breath, chills, sore throat, loss of taste/smell, a fever of 100.4 or greater, etc.
• If someone in your household is symptomatic or has tested positive for COVID-19, please do not come to work.
• Pack one or more face coverings for use in buildings where face coverings are required. Please be sure to launder cloth face coverings after daily use.
• Do your part to practice physical distancing and use of face coverings to respect fellow community members.
• Practice good hygiene throughout the day, including frequent handwashing.

When a FACULTY OR STAFF member notifies Morningside of a positive COVID-19 test, the following communication protocols will be activated:

• EMPLOYEE notifies HUMAN RESOURCES and their SUPERVISOR
• SUPERVISORS contact their VICE PRESIDENT
• HUMAN RESOURCES will contact the PHYSICAL PLANT and any other individuals or departments requiring notification.
• STUDENTS, FACULTY, AND STAFF will be notified if they have been in contact with someone with an active case of COVID-19 and are being required to self-isolate or self-quarantine through the contact tracing process that will be completed by SIOUXLAND DISTRICT HEALTH.
• To protect individual privacy and ensure accurate reporting of numbers, community members interested in knowing case counts in Woodbury County (which would include Morningside cases) can visit the Siouxland District Health website or the Iowa Department of Public Health website.

When a STUDENT notifies a FACULTY member of a positive COVID-19 test,

• The FACULTY should ask the STUDENT to notify STUDENT HEALTH and stay in their room, then follow Undergraduate Student COVID-19 Protocols.
• FACULTY are not required to notify Academic Affairs or Student Life of a STUDENT positive COVID-19 test but may do so if they wish to ensure due diligence in reporting.
• To protect individual student privacy, FACULTY should NOT convey positive test results to their class or anyone outside of the Student Life, Academic Affairs, or Student Health offices.

For a list of COVID-19 symptoms, please visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's website.

If you test positive for COVID-19:

• Do not report to work. Stay at or go home.
• Contact your health care provider by phone or email; DO NOT GO TO YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER’S OFFICE WITHOUT ALERTING THEM TO YOUR SYMPTOMS. If you do not have a health care provider, please call 211, which is the Iowa COVID-19 hotline. A screening will be done over the phone and you will be directed to get a screening if you meet the criteria for a test.
• If you are at work upon becoming ill, please contact your supervisor by phone, text, or email and depart campus immediately to begin quarantining. Your supervisor can assist you with getting necessary equipment or items you are unable to immediately collect upon your departure.
• Consult the CDC guidelines before discontinuing your isolation.

The following criteria will determine if you are safe to discontinue isolation:

• You have not had a fever for at least 72 hours. That is a full three days without a fever (100.4 or greater) or medicine to reduce fever.
• Other symptoms have improved. For example, when your cough and shortness of breath have improved.
• Consult the CDC guidelines before discontinuing your isolation.

For a list of COVID-19 symptoms, please visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's website.

If you or someone in your household has symptoms of COVID-19 or has tested positive for COVID-19:

• Do not report to work. Contact your supervisor and update them on the situation.
• If you are at work upon learning of an ill or COVID-19 positive household member, please contact your supervisor by phone, text, or email and depart campus immediately to begin quarantining. Your supervisor can assist you with getting necessary equipment or items you are unable to immediately collect upon your departure.
• If you develop symptoms of COVID-19 during isolation, contact your health care provider by phone or email; DO NOT GO TO YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER’S OFFICE WITHOUT ALERTING THEM TO YOUR SYMPTOMS. If you do not have a health care provider, please call 211, which is the Iowa COVID-19 hotline. A screening will be done over the phone and you will be directed to get a screening if you meet the criteria for a test.
• Consult CDC guidelines before discontinuing isolation.
• Contact HR to determine your return-to-work date.

The following criteria will determine if you are safe to discontinue isolation:

• Consult CDC guidelines before discontinuing isolation.

SELF-QUARANTINE SITUATION

We urge employees to take great caution with illnesses and/or exposure to COVID-19. If you have been exposed to COVID-19, it is necessary for you to follow CDC guidelines for isolation or quarantine. For continued compensation, employees would follow the process below in the order listed below:

• Use all available sick leave.
• Use all but one week of vacation time.
• If the self-quarantine period is still not met then the college will grant emergency paid sick days for any remaining time period.

CONFIRMED COVID–19 DIAGNOSIS

Morningside has also made some modifications to the Short-Term Disability Policy in regard to COVID-19. These modifications ONLY apply to a COVID-19 diagnosis.

Currently, our Short-Term Disability Policy is available to full-time employees and is for a maximum of six months. The first eight weeks is at 100% of pay; the remainder of the time off is at 60% of pay. All accrued sick leave and all but one week of vacation is applied first. Once exhausted, the continuation of pay by the college starts.

A COVID-19 diagnosis will follow the current policy with some additions to that policy. The short-term disability policy is being modified to also apply to all 12-month part-time employees diagnosed with COVID-19. In addition, the policy will also apply to family members who live with the employee that are infected with COVID-19. If you or another family member who lives with you is diagnosed with COVID-19, employees would have to first use all available sick leave and then all but one week of vacation time for their care before the college will continue pay as stated in the Short-Term Disability Policy. Medical documentation of the diagnosis will be required.

Should you require time off for COVID-19, please contact your supervisor and Human Resources.

While we do request that our employees exercise caution in the face of illness, we also ask that if you are well and able to work, you do your part to keep our campus fully operational. It’s imperative Morningside continue operations to serve current students, prospective students, and alumni. Each individual employee is important to making that happen.

Iowa COVID Recovery Program

The governor of Iowa announced a program that will provide free virtual counseling and other services to those affected by COVID-19. If you are interested in more information, please visit covidrecoveryiowa.org.