Monthly Archives: August 2021

More to Read: COVID-19 Travel Advisory // FAQ on Seattle Street Safety

Yes, Seattle is OPEN. Thanks to increased vaccination rates, Washington state businesses were permitted to reopen at full capacity as of June 30. Seattle, the first major American city to fully vaccinate 70% of residents 12 and older, is safely welcoming back visitors.

Travelers to Seattleand all destinationsshould continue to observe the health recommendations of national and local public health officials, as they plan to travel, while in transit, and while visiting any destination. Travelers to Seattle should know that Visit Seattle is in close contact with regional public health officials and elected officials, as well as with national travel associations, and will actively communicate with visitors as the situation changes.

Washington State has reinstated a statewide indoor mask mandate to all individuals, regardless of vaccination status, effective Monday, August 23. This includes all indoor public settings like grocery, retail, theaters, and entertainment establishments. Exemptions to the mask requirement are limited to office spaces not easily accessible to the public and small, private indoor gatherings where everyone is vaccinated.

Please note: Businesses have the right to set their own rules and regulations for the health and safety of their customers and staff. We kindly ask visitors to determine and adhere to the individual guidelines of each business in Seattle and King County.

While there are no state or county-level mandates for vaccination IDs, business owners do have the right to enact health policies to protect their staff and customers. In addition to the statewide indoor mask mandate, a growing number of bars, restaurants, performing arts venues and events have started requiring proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID-19 test from their customers before entering. We kindly ask visitors to determine and adhere to the individual guidelines of each business in Seattle and King County.

With the exception of large indoor events (with more than 10,000 simultaneous participants), Washington state has lifted all social distancing guidelines, however reinstated a statewide mask mandate as of August 23, 2021. For details, please reference the states Washington Ready plan.

Seattle and King County continue to follow CDC guidelines, so please be aware of these while planning travel.

Washingtonians and others who may be visiting Washington from outside the state are expected to comply with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC) current COVID-19 travel advisory guidance. This guidance recommends travelers delay travel until they are fully vaccinated, at which point they can travel safely within the United States.

If not vaccinated, travelers are expected to follow CDCs recommendations for unvaccinated people, which includes testing before and after travel, wearing a mask, continuing to socially distance and maintain good hand hygiene.

Detailed guidance for domestic and international travelers is available on the CDC website.

Please note that global travel restrictions for international visitors to the United States:

For the latest flight and airport information, refer to the SEA Airport travel advisory or contact your airline directly.

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) has implemented extensive new cleaning procedures to support the health and safety of travelers. Some of these measures include:

Airlines are also implementing their own stringent cleaning and safety measures. Here are two examples:

SEA Airport has provided the following resources to travelers:

As Seattle reopens, we encourage visitors and locals to be aware that all sectors of the hospitality industry are experiencing staffing shortages, and kindly ask for understanding and patience with businesses and staff. While businesses are now permitted to operate at full capacity, some may continue at limited capacity or remain closed until they are more properly staffed.

Hotels are eager to welcome visitors and implemented a wide array of cleaning and social distancing policies to keep guests and staff safe and comfortable. Some amenities, dining, and other services may be limited, so please check with your hotel on their current status before traveling.

Meeting Venues in Washington State are allowed to operate at full capacity, with the exception of large indoor gatherings.

Large indoor events are defined as any event with more than 10,000 simultaneous participants located in an indoors enclosed space. Large indoor events are restricted to 75% capacity, unless vaccination verification is occurring. If vaccination verification is occurring prior to entry and the venue requires all attendees be vaccinated, there are no capacity restrictions. Vaccinated sections, however, are not permitted as a way to exceed 75% capacityallattendees must be vaccinated. No physical distancing requirements apply and attendees must follow the current masking requirements.

Restaurants may operate at full capacity.

Museums may operate at full capacity.

Retailers may operate at full capacity.

Outdoor recreation including parks, trails, and beaches is allowed with no restrictions. Camping is available where open.

Resources and updates for some popular Seattle attractions:

Additional detailed guidance and information is available on the governors website.

As businesses reopen in the Seattle area, they are held to cleanliness protocols as outlined by King County Public Health. Many, however, are going to even further measures to help ensure the health & safety of guests and employees. Please check with individual businesses for details on their policies.

Absolutely. As with everything, please check the status of specific parks before you visit.

Official Park Websites:

Additional Resources:

Click to learn more about #RecreateResponsibly guidelines

Washington State Convention Center is actively pursuing Global Biorisk Advisory Council (GBAC) STAR accreditation on outbreak prevention, response and recovery. Please read their Safety First Overviewfor details.

Yes! The first cruise ships arrived in Elliott Bay on June 29 to prepare for a late 2021 season with departures as early as July 24. For further details on this evolving situation, please monitor official updates from the Port of Seattle.

Read more:

FAQs on COVID-19 | Visit Seattle

(En espaol)

The Washington State Department of Financial Institutions has developed a list of financial resources for Washington consumers impacted by the Coronavirus. We will add to this list as more resources become available.

If you are out of work, Washington State's Employment Security Department provides support services to individuals affected by COVID-19 in Washington.

The Employment Security Department has adopted a series of emergency rules to relieve the burden of temporary layoffs, isolation and quarantine for workers and businesses.

Washington State Employment Security DepartmentUnemployment benefits and filing.

If you do not have enough money to cover your mortgage payment, contact your lenderimmediately. Homeowners in distress may call DFIs toll-free number 1-877-RING-DFI (746-4334) to talk to a member of our team and to get assistance in how best to contact their mortgage servicer, and to learn more about their options.

Assistance for Washington HomeownersCoronavirus mortgage assistance available to Washington homeowners.

If youre having trouble making payments, there may be assistance available to you. TheCARES Actprovides relief for most federal student loan borrowers.

Federal and Private Student Loan Relief OptionsFederal and private student loan relief options.

Private Student LoansIf you have private student loans you should call your loan servicer to ask what relief options are available for you.

If you are unable to make your full rent payment, contact your landlord immediately and try to work out an agreement.

Emergency Rental AssistanceFor emergency rent assistance you may also call 2-1-1 or search the 2-1-1 website to find rent assistance near you.

If you have seen a reduction in pay due to COVID-19 and are struggling to make your credit card or loan payments, contact your credit card company rightaway. Explain your situation and ask about hardship programs that may be available. Regulatory agencies have encouraged financial institutions to work with customers impacted by the coronavirus.

Credit card companies and lenders may be able to offer you a number of options to help you. This could include waiving certain fees like ATM, overpayments, and late fees, as well as allowing you to delay, adjust, or skip some payments.

What Should I Do If I Cant Pay My Credit Card Bills?Information from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Debt Assistance: Find A Credit CounselorA credit counselor may able to assist you with your debt problems. Contact one near you.

Local Community Services Offices (CSO) provide many DSHS services. Your local CSO can provide you with details about these services and how to apply for them.

Resources for Cash, Food and Medical AssistanceDepartment of Social and Health Services

Governor Jay Inslee has called on all public utilities in Washington state to ensure the health and safety of their employees and the public by suspending disconnection tariffs for nonpayment during this emergency; waiving late fees for customers who are out of work or offering customers payment plans; and expanding bill assistance programs for customers who are economically impacted by this emergency. Many utility companies are already doing this. For assistance, contact your utility company.

Utility COVID-19 response pages:

PSE

Avista

Cascade Natural

Pacific Power

Northwest Natural

Washington Water

City of Seattle

Tacoma Public Utilities

Additional Resources:

Utilities and Transportation CommissionWashington Utilities and Transportation Commission.

Consider your options before taking out a high cost short term loan. Talk with your creditors to negotiate more time to pay bills, borrow from friends or family, or explore low interest loans offered by local banks and credit unions.

If you do take out a short term loan, make sure the lender is licensed with the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions and borrow only what you can afford to pay back.

While the COVID-19 outbreak has closed many businesses, your local banks and credit unions remain committed to providing access to banking services.

As social distancing has been implemented across our state, here are some things to consider:

Coronavirus.wa.govWashington State Coronavirus Response

COVID-19 resource list for impacted Washington businesses and workersInformation from the Governors office.

Employment Security Department Information for Workers Impacted by COVID-19Resources and information from the Washington Employment Security Department.

Protect Yourself Financially from the CoronavirusInformation from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Job Interrupted A To-Do List for Tough TimesInformation from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

Financial Peace of Mind in the Age of CoronavirusInformation from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

Avoiding Coronavirus ScamsInformation from the Federal Trade Commission.

More:

Financial Resources for Washington Residents Impacted by ...

SYDNEY, Aug 30 (Reuters) - As Australia's COVID-19 deaths exceed 1,000, a grim toll but modest by global standards, a country that has used relentless lockdowns now faces perhaps its biggest health policy challenge of the pandemic - how to reopen.

The highly infectious Delta variant has breached the country's fortress-style controls and entrenched itself deep enough in Sydney, Australia's biggest city, and with a foothold in Melbourne, that authorities have dispensed with plans to eliminate it.

Instead, they plan to ramp up Australia's lagging vaccination effort and live with COVID-19, an approach that would help struggling businesses but which is opposed by states determined to crush the disease.

Australia reported four fatalities on Monday, taking the total death toll from COVID-19 to 1,003, according to government data. It has logged an average of two to three deaths a day recently, the data shows.

But while deaths are creeping higher, infections are surging to successive record highs above 1,200 a day. With more than half the population in lockdown, even those areas with little or no infections are affected.

The exuberance that accompanied Australia's early suppression success has since been replaced with community frustration at a delayed vaccine programme that has only recently picked up pace.

Just over 33% of those aged 16 and older have received two vaccine doses, well below most comparable nations, according to a Reuters tracker.

As the weary nation reopens, authorities hope to avoid the soaring infections and rising death experienced in countries such as Britain and the United States - which recently posted more than 1,000 deaths in a single day.

The lesson for Australia is that mask-wearing should not be discarded as restrictions ease and that classrooms should be better ventilated to protect students from the airborne virus, said epidemiologist Raina MacIntyre.

"Wearing a mask is a small price to pay to get that additional layer of control," said MacIntyre, head of the Biosecurity Research Program at the Kirby Institute, UNSW Medicine. "We'll need a vaccines-plus strategy as well as ventilation."

PUSHBACK AGAINST LIVE-WITH-IT PLAN

Australia plans to start easing restrictions once 70% of those aged 16 and over are fully vaccinated, expected late in the year. After 80% comes a gradual reopening of international travel, according to the government-backed plan modelled by the Melbourne-based Doherty Institute.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison wants Australia to treat COVID-19 like the flu as vaccination rates rise. "That is our goal, to live with this virus, not to live in fear of it," he said last week.

But some largely infection-free states, including Queensland and Western Australia, are pushing back as they watch health services at the centre of the Delta outbreak in the Sydney area come under stress.

There are 840 people in hospital being treated for COVID-19 in the epicentre, with 137 in intensive care and48 requiring ventilation.

Mark McGowan, premier of Western Australia, said his iron ore-exporting state wanted to continue to "crush and kill" the virus, with lockdowns when necessary.

The outbreaks and lockdowns are devastating tourism operators, said Daniel Gschwind, chief executive of the Queensland Tourism Industry Council.

"We are not in lockdown and that's great, but tourism is like a pipeline," he said. "It doesn't matter where that pipeline is broken. If you sit at the end of the pipeline nothing is coming through."

The Australian economy, which rebounded swiftly in the pandemic's early stages, is set to contract sharply this quarter, threatening to push the country back into recession if the decline persists for the rest of the year.

In the Group of 20 big economies, Australia is the last to mark 1,000 COVID-19 deaths. Among major Asia-Pacific economies, four New Zealand, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore have well below 1,000 fatalities, with New Zealand having the lowest at just 26.

Australia's rising case count means it will try to reopen under a cloud of infections when, up until the Delta strain, it was largely virus-free.

Delta's high infectiousness, short incubation, and asymptomatic spread, meant it spread quickly after being first detected in Sydney in June. Caseloads are higher for younger people, who have had limited or no access to vaccines.

Reporting by Jonathan Barrett; Additional reporting by Jill Gralow and Roshan Abraham; Editing by William Mallard

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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A weary Australia plans reopening as COVID-19 death toll hits 1000 - Reuters

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ) Maryland reported 1,067 new COVID-19 cases and twelve new deaths, according to state health department data released Sunday morning.

This marks the fifth consecutive day of more than a thousand new cases.

Doctors say the new cases are fueled by dangerous strains targeting the unvaccinated. During an August press conference, Gov. Larry Hogan said the Delta variant, a strain that is reportedly two to four times more contagious than the original virus strain, accounts for nearly every new confirmed case in Maryland.

Hogan also saidless than 0.01% of vaccinated Marylanders have been hospitalized with COVID-19, and less than 0.001% of vaccinated Marylanders have died from the virus.

The vaccines are without a doubt our single most effective tool to mitigate the threat of COVID-19 and the surging Delta variant, and Marylands vaccination rate continues to outpace the nation, Hogan said.

Equally as important as getting a vaccine yourself is helping someone you know to get a vaccine. The vaccines are very safe, they are very effective, they are completely free, and they are widely available nearly everywhere.

More than 3.8 million Maryland adults are fully vaccinated. State officials also reported that the state positivity increased by 0.05 to 4.9%.

Hospitalizations decreased by 11 to 679. Of those hospitalized, 505 remain in acute care and 174 remain in the ICU.

Since the pandemic began, there were 494,982 total confirmed cases and 9,772 deaths.

There are 3,714,076 Marylanders fully vaccinated. The state has administered 7,518,231 doses. Of those, 3,804,155 are first doses with 7,737 administered in the past 24 hours. They have given out 3,430,557 second doses, 7,534 in the last day.

The state began to administer the Johnson & Johnson vaccine again in April after the CDC and FDA lifted their pause on the vaccine due to a rare blood clot found in some women.

A total of 283,519 Marylanders have received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, 308 in the last day.

The state reported 80.7% of all adults in Maryland have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

In August, the state launched a post-vaccination infections dashboard that is updated every Wednesday. There have been 9,079 total cases among fully vaccinated Marylanders as of last Wednesday, August 25.

Of those cases, 733 vaccinated Marylanders were hospitalized, representing 5.6% of all Covid cases hospitalized in the state. 76 fully vaccinated Marylanders have died, representing 5% of lab-confirmed Covid deaths in the state.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES:

Heres a breakdown of the numbers:

By County

By Age Range and Gender

By Race and Ethnicity

Excerpt from:

COVID-19 In Maryland: More Than 1K New Cases & 12 Deaths Reported Sunday - CBS Baltimore

WELLINGTON, Aug 30 (Reuters) - New Zealand reported its first recorded death linked to U.S. drugmaker Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine, the health ministry said on Monday, after a woman suffered a rare side effect leading to inflammation of her heart muscle.

The news of the death comes as the country battles an outbreak of the Delta variant after nearly six months of being virus free. It followed a review by an independent panel monitoring the safety of the vaccines.

"This is the first case in New Zealand where a death in the days following vaccination has been linked to the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine," the ministry said in a statement, without giving the woman's age.

The vaccine monitoring panel attributed the death to myocarditis, a rare, but known, side effect of the Pfizer vaccine, the ministry added.

Myocarditis is an inflammation of the heart muscle that can limit the organ's ability to pump blood and can cause changes in heartbeat rhythms.

In response, Pfizer said it recognised there could be rare reports of myocarditis after vaccinations, but such side effects were extremely rare.

"Pfizer takes adverse events that are potentially associated with our vaccine very seriously," it told Reuters.

"We closely monitor all such events and collect relevant information to share with worldwide regulatory authorities."

The health ministry said other medical issues at the same time could have influenced the outcome after vaccination.

But the vaccine's benefit outstripped risks from side effects, it added.

"The benefits of vaccination with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine continue to greatly outweigh the risk of both COVID-19 infection and vaccine side effects, including myocarditis."

New Zealand has provisionally approved use of the Pfizer/BioNTech, Janssen and AstraZeneca vaccines, but only the Pfizer produced vaccine has been approved for rollout to the public.

Monday's 53 new cases took New Zealand's tally of infections in the current outbreak to 562, amid a nationwide lockdown enforced this month to limit spread of the Delta variant.

Reporting by Praveen Menon; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Clarence Fernandez

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Go here to see the original:

New Zealand reports first death linked to Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine - Reuters

Posted: Aug 29, 2021 / 09:57 AM EDT / Updated: Aug 29, 2021 / 10:01 AM EDT

Caleb Wallace, the co-founder of the San Angelo Freedom Defenders and West Texas Minutemen State Coordinator has died from causes related to COVID-19, according to an update on gofundme by his wife, Jessica Wallace.

Caleb has peacefully passed on. He will forever live in our hearts and minds, reads the most recent update on the campaign that was set up to help Wallaces three children and his wife, a stay-at-home mother who is expecting a fourth child in late September.

This money is also going towards Calebs medical bills as they start coming in, reads an update to the campaigns description, Hes now been in the hospital since July 30th and I know I must prepare for them as well. Gotta pray for the best and prepare for the worst.

While Wallace had become a semi-regular feature in local news through his conservative activism, it was his battle with COVID-19 that garnered the national spotlight after his familys struggle was featured in an article published in the San Angelo Standard Times on Sunday, August 22, 2021.

His organization of the Freedom Rally, a protest against state and local mask requirements during the summer of 2020 made him a figure of some prominence among those in the community who were opposed to mask mandates.

This opposition to coronavirus mitigation measures like mask mandates lead Wallace to found the San Angelo Freedom Defenders with like-minded local, Coco Simpson. The Freedom Defenders held local rallies like the San Angelo Freedom Parade in July of 2020 and the October 2020 Rally to End COVID-19 Tyrrany.

Its pacifying the 1-2% speaking the loudest and leaving the rest of us behind, said Simpson in an interview about Governor Greg Abbotts July 2020 mask mandate, If you want to wear a mask feel free to do so. I dont choose to and I shouldnt wear one because it makes you feel better.

Wallace reportedly believed that vaccine mandates were also an infringement on peoples constitutional rights. In an article published in the New York Times on Friday, August 27, 2020, Wallaces father attested to his sons stance against vaccine and mask requirements, saying, After watching all of the governments efforts here, he decided he wanted to do something about it

I cant tell the difference if I have freedom to breathe free air or breathe it behind sucking air behind this thing, Wallace said while speaking to local officials at a COVID-19 Update held by the City of San Angelo on November 13, 2020.

My health has nothing to do with you. As harsh as that sounds, but our constitutional, fundamental rights protect that. Nothing else. said Wallace.

Im sorry if that comes off as blunt and that I dont care. I do care. I care more about freedom than I do for your personal health.

Wallaces most recent public action was in the form of an open letter, published locally on April 10, 2021, to the San Angelo Independent School District calling on the school board to rescind ALL COVID-related policies immediately!

More:

Texas anti-mask organizer dies of COVID-19 - WFLA

SINGAPOREA surge of Covid-19 cases in Malaysia, a little-known but critical link in the semiconductor supply chain, has opened a new front in the battle to fix manufacturing woes that have rippled across industries during a global shortage of computing chips.

The Southeast Asia nation is one of the worlds top destinations for assembly and testing of the devices that control smartphones, car engines and medical equipment. Disruptions in Malaysia threaten to prolong uncertainty over chip supply well into next year, dashing hopes of relief in the second half of 2021.

The supply crunch in Malaysia, caused primarily by staff shortages linked to virus-control measures combined with a sharp surge in global demand, poses a new problem for the auto industry. For the first half of this year, shortages largely stemmed from companies miscalculating the pace of economic recoveries and not ordering enough parts. Now they cant always get the parts they need because Covid-19 outbreaks are denting factory output.

Its a bit like a game of whack-a-mole, said Ravi Vijayaraghavan, a Singapore-based partner at the consulting firm Bain & Co. specializing in semiconductors. We think we have supply sorted out, and then a problem suddenly pops up somewhere else.

Some of the worlds leading car makers including Toyota Motor Corp. , Ford Motor Co. , General Motors Co. and Nissan Motor Co. have disclosed major production cuts due largely to chip shortages from factories in Malaysia. Ford suspended work for about a week at an F-150 plant in the Kansas City, Mo., area and a Fiesta factory in Cologne, Germany because of missing parts, while Toyota said it would cut global production by around 40% in September. General Motors said it expects to make 100,000 fewer vehicles in North America in the second half of the year.

Link:

Covid-19 Surge in Malaysia Threatens to Prolong Global Chip Shortage - The Wall Street Journal

MEDFORD, Ore-- Just this past weekend, Asante hit a new pandemic record with 182 people hospitalized with COVID-19 across all of their facilities.

But just in the last month, the organization has begun providing a detailed list on whether the people that are being administered into their hospitals are vaccinated or unvaccinated.

According to their latest update, on August 29 2021, of the 182 people that are in their hospitals with COVID-19, 170 of the 182 patients are unvaccinated while the other 12 patients are vaccinated.

In Asante ICU or IMCU beds, 51 out of the 53 patients are unvaccinated while on two are vaccinated.

For patients on ventilators across Asante hospitals, all 21 people are unvaccinated.

Over the last seven days Asante has reported 21 deaths as well. Of those 21 deaths, 15 of them were people who were unvaccinated with 6 people were vaccinated.

The numbers and the data show that those who were vaccinated are far less likely to be hospitalized, be put in an ICU bed or ventilator or die.

With this data Asante is once again asking people to get vaccinated as new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deahts continue to rise in Jackson and Josephine Counties. The organization once again stating that vaccines do help prevent hospitalizations and deaths.

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Asante providing better understanding of vaccinated and unvaccinated COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations - KDRV

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- One unvaccinated and unmasked California elementary school teacher in Marin, County California spread coronavirus (COVID-19) to half her class, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study, underscoring the virulence of the delta variant that has caused a spike in national cases.

The outbreak occurred in late May after an unnamed teacher reported exhibiting symptoms on May 19. She allegedly continued to work for two more days before receiving a COVID-19 test, the study said. During that span, the teacher read aloud, unmasked, to the class despite the school requiring masks indoors.

Between May 23 and May 26, the teachers 24 students 22 of whom are ineligible to receive the vaccine because of their age were tested for COVID-19. Twelve students received positive tests, with 80% of those results coming from students seated in the first two rows closest to the teachers desk, according to the study.

Currently, children under the age of 12 are not currently able to be vaccinated.

Four children outside of the classroom, all of who were siblings of students in the unvaccinated teachers classroom, also tested positive for COVID-19. Additionally, four parents of students in the class were infected.

Six students from a different grade in the school also tested positive after one student hosted a sleepover with two other students from the same class, the CDC said.

While vaccines have seen diminished effectiveness against the delta variant compared to the original strain that launched the pandemic, experts and studies show vaccines still remain highly effective in preventing severe disease and death.

The contagiousness of the delta variant has led to findings that vaccinated people could carry enough viral load to spread the virus. Still, the CDC said the risk of transmission remains elevated among unvaccinated persons in schools without strict adherence to prevention strategies.

The agency said the study highlighted the importance for vaccination among eligible members of staff to protect students ineligible for vaccination.

In addition to vaccination for eligible persons, strict adherence to non-pharmaceutical prevention strategies, including masking, routine testing, facility ventilation, and staying home when symptomatic, are important to ensure safe in-person learning in schools, said the CDC.

New York City is requiring every public school city Department of Education employee to receive at least one dose of the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine by the end of September. The mandate removes the test-out option for school staff that currently allows city workers to either be fully vaccinated or be subject to weekly coronavirus testing.

On Thursday, Mayor Bill de Blasio and NYC Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter unveiled a 13-page handbook outlining the policies and procedures that families can expect to see this year as all students prepare to return to their classrooms for in-person instruction.

All students and staff members will be required to wear a mask anywhere on school property, whether it be indoors or outdoors, regardless of vaccination status. Masks will also be required on all school buses.

Excerpt from:

Unvaccinated, unmasked California teacher spread COVID-19 to 50% of class, says CDC study - SILive.com

August 29, 2021, 9:00 p.m. CDT

The most up-to-date COVID-19 guidance regarding campus procedures, testing, reporting and other helpful information can be found on this dedicated site. We update this site regularly and suggest you bookmark it.

Vaccines and Face Coverings

While Texas A&M does not require COVID-19 vaccinations, students, faculty and staff are strongly encouraged to get a COVID-19 vaccination and wear face coverings, especially indoors (vaccinated and non-vaccinated individuals). Find out more details about getting the vaccine on campus at no cost here: tx.ag/VaccineInfo. Other vaccine locations across Brazos County are found on the Health District's website.

All Texas A&M students, faculty and staff - vaccinated and non-vaccinated - must take a COVID-19 test provided by Texas A&M before Sept. 10.

Find testing locations and times on campus: tx.ag/GetTested

If you TEST POSITIVE or are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms:

More details: tx.ag/PositiveGuide

If you're EXPOSED to someone with COVID-19:

More details: tx.ag/ExposedGuide

Note: Vaccinated individuals would only have to self-monitor if exposed, whereas those who are not vaccinated will have to quarantine.

Aggies Living on Campus

On-campus residents who test positive for COVID-19, or are exposed to someone who tested positive, should submit the COVID-19 Report Form and inform their live-in residential staff. Residential staff are prepared to discuss available options and guide them through the next steps. Some residents may be able to isolate/quarantine in their own room or apartment, depending on their unique situation and where they live. Residents who are from a location beyond a five-hour drive from College Station might have the option to isolate/quarantine in an alternate location on campus.

Each case will be evaluated individually.

Contact the Department of Residence Life at 979-862-3158 or visit their website at reslife.tamu.edu for more information.

On-campus residents are strongly encouraged to be proactive and formulate a plan now for where they will go if they become ill or exposed, even those who are fully vaccinated. Residents who are able to return to their permanent residence to isolate/quarantine are strongly encouraged to do so and save the limited resources for residents who cannot logistically return home to isolate/quarantine.

Read all COVID-19 guidance for students for Fall 2021: tx.ag/StudentGuidance21

Read all COVID-19 guidance for staff/faculty for Fall 2021: tx.ag/SFGuidance21

While we had all hoped that the pandemic would not be an issue this fall, it is still a major factor, influencing how we live, work and study. Thank you for all you've done to keep Aggieland safe over the past last 1 1/2 years, and for your continued efforts in keeping yourself and your community healthy.

See original here:

Texas A&M University's Up-To-Date COVID-19 Guidance Regarding Procedures, Testing, Reporting And More - Texas A&M University