Since the COVID-19 pandemic began we have repeatedly stated our shared commitment to the safety of our students, faculty, and staff and to make safety-related decisions based on the best guidance of healthcare professionals. The rise of the virus's easily transmitted Delta variant is requiring us, once again, to reconsider what is necessary to continue to pursue our academic mission as safely as possible.
To that end, recent CDC guidance calls for: (1) layered prevention strategies at Americas colleges and universities to combat COVID-19, and (2) for fully vaccinated people to wear a mask in public indoor settings in areas of substantial or high transmission. Though dynamic, all of Virginia's Community Colleges serve localities that have, in recent days, shown substantial or high transmission rates. In keeping with CDC guidance and out of respect for the health and safety of individuals on our campuses, I am implementing an indoor mask mandate for public indoor spaces at our colleges. I call on you to implement this mandate in a manner that best matches your college, including allowing instructors to remove masks when instructing students from a safe distance or from behind a plexiglass barrier.
Together, we will continue to monitor the public health of our community and guidance from authoritative sources, like the CDC, and revisit this mandate when needed.
Thank you for all that you are doing to continue to support the health of your community, including actively encouraging vaccination.
John J. Rainone, Ed.D., President
Dabney S. Lancaster Community College
COVID-19 Guidelines
Masks
Masks are required while indoors on the DSLCC Main Campus and the Rockbridge Regional Center. If you attend a clinical site or any other DSLCC instructional site, you must follow the guidelines provided at that site.
Communication
If you think or know you have COVID-19, please notify your supervisor or your instructor to keep them informed.
Quarantine
Quarantine if you have been in close contact (within 6 feet of someone for a total of 15 minutes or more) with someone who has COVID-19, unless you have been fully vaccinated.
People who are fully vaccinated do NOT need to quarantine after contact with someone who had COVID-19 unless they have symptoms.
What to do
- Stay home for 10 days without testing or 7 days after receiving a negative test result (test must occur on day 5 or later) after your last contact with a person who has COVID-19.
- Watch for fever (100.4◦F), cough, shortness of breath, or other symptoms of COVID-19.
- If possible, stay away from people you live with, especially people who are at higher risk for getting very sick from COVID-19.
After quarantine
- Watch for symptoms until 14 days after exposure.
- If you have symptoms, immediately self-isolate and contact your local public health authority or healthcare provider.
I think or know I have COVID-19
Please notify your supervisor or your instructor to keep them informed.
You can be around others after:
- 10 days since symptoms first appeared and
- 24 hours with no fever without the use of fever-reducing medications and
- Other symptoms of COVID-19 are improving*
*Loss of taste and smell may persist for weeks or months after recovery and need not delay the end of isolation
Isolation
Isolation is used to separate people infected with COVID-19 from those who are not infected.
People who are in isolation should stay home until it’s safe for them to be around others. At home, anyone sick or infected should separate from others, stay in a specific “sick room” or area, and use a separate bathroom (if available).
What to do
- Monitor your symptoms. If you have an emergency warning sign (including trouble breathing), seek emergency medical care immediately.
- Stay in a separate room from other household members, if possible.
- Use a separate bathroom, if possible.
- Avoid contact with other members of the household and pets.
- Don’t share personal household items, like cups, towels, and utensils.
- Wear a mask when around other people if able.
