Guidelines for Responding to Symptomatic Individuals

The following is a general response to individuals who exhibit symptoms of COVID-19.

Symptomatic individuals should be directed to the guidance regarding isolation, testing and reporting symptoms.  They should also be advised to communicate to instructors or supervisors if classes or work will be missed due to isolation or quarantine. Read more about isolation and quarantine guidelines for University affiliates.

While most COVID-19 cases do not require response by emergency medical services, in the case of a life-threatening or severe medical emergency, please call 911 (or 412-624-2121 on the Pittsburgh campus).

Once notified that a Pitt affiliate has tested positive for COVID-19, Student Health Service and MyHealth@Work will:

• Contact COVID-19 positive individuals to discuss contact tracing and isolation.
• Restrict University affiliates’ access to University facilities during isolation and quarantine.
• Clear the individual to end isolation based on improving symptoms, including regaining access to University facilities.
• Clear the individual from participating in mandatory testing (if they are unvaccinated and COVID-19 positive) for 90 days.
• Importantly, no supervisor or faculty member should contact SHS or MyHealth@Work to obtain information regarding whether an individual to return to work or classes.   

As always, we must ensure compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and prioritize patient privacy. Additional guidance for supervisors is available from the Office of Human Resources.