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Guidance on Research Employees Returning to Work

Version 1, May 5, 2020

If you are a research employee who is returning to work and you are not feeling well and/or are experiencing any symptoms of illness, please remain at home, do not report to work, and contact your manager immediately.

If you are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms (e.g., fever, dry cough, body aches, loss of smell or taste, headache), you may wish to contact your personal physician or you should immediately call the UConn Health COVID-19 Call Center at 860-679-3199 for further guidance and then contact your manager. If you are experiencing symptoms, you should not report to work unless cleared by a physician to do so and you may be asked to wait until at least one week or longer has passed since the onset of symptoms, symptoms have improved, and you have been free of fever without any fever-reducing medications for at least 72 hours.  

If you have been exposed outside of work to a COVID-19 symptomatic or positive individual, you should call the UConn Health COVID-19 Call Center at 860-679-3199 for further guidance and also contact your manager. If you have been exposed for a prolonged period of time to a co-worker who is positive for COVID-19 and it is known to the University, you will be contacted by your manager. You may be instructed, depending on the date of last known contact or length and circumstances of the contact, to self-isolate and self-monitor for a recommended period of time up to 14 calendar days from the date of exposure. If you are determined to be at low risk, you may be instructed to self-monitor and can report to work as normal. 

If you were not in prolonged close contact and are considered to be an individual who is at low risk for exposure, you may be eligible to continue working. A close contact is defined as an individual who has been within six feet for a prolonged period of time (i.e., for longer than 15 minutes) or has had direct contact with the infectious secretions of a COVID-19 case (for example, being coughed on while not wearing any PPE). Close contact does not include a brief or passing interaction with an individual.

If you have any questions and work at UConn Health, please contact HR-EmployeeResources@uchc.edu. If you work at Storrs or any one of the regional campuses, please contact hr@uconn.edu.