We have been notified of two positive COVID-19 cases of individuals who were in the School of Dentistry. The cases are not related to each other or to prior cases in Dentistry. The first case was in an enclosed office on the first floor of Dentistry with no others sharing the space. The second involved space in the Advanced Ortho Clinic and the Innovation Clinic. Any individuals who may have potentially been exposed are being contacted.
UMKC facilities staff are sanitizing the affected space, following CDC guidelines on enhanced cleaning practices. In addition, staff continue to disinfect public spaces across campus, including daily disinfecting and extra cleaning of high-touch surfaces.
The people who tested positive will remain isolated during treatment. Current guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that people with positive tests must stay isolated for 10 days from symptom onset and three days after resolution of all symptoms. In addition, UMKC’s policy calls for individuals who have recovered from COVID to be cleared to return to campus by staff at the Student Health and Wellness Center, at 816-235-6133 or studenthealth@umkc.edu.
UMKC will continue to work closely with health authorities to manage any campus exposures to COVID and to follow the recommendations of the local health department and the CDC. UMKC relies on these health experts to determine protocols for how to handle positive tests of faculty, staff or students on campus. These protocols guide campus health authorities’ assessment of positive cases as well as initiation of “contact tracing” to determine who an individual may have come into close contact with. In addition, protocols by local health agencies and the CDC guide the university’s practices to clean and disinfect any affected spaces and to provide additional health/medical information to affected individuals.
Actions that individuals can take to protect their own health as well as the health and safety of the campus community include:
• Stay home if you have COVID-like symptoms not explained by another illness including a temperature above 100.4 degrees, a cough or trouble breathing.
• Wash hands regularly, or use hand sanitizer if not near hand-washing facilities.
• Wear a face covering.
• Practice physical distancing by remaining six feet away from other individuals.
According to our campus policies, we will continue to notify campus of positive cases as soon as they are confirmed, and provide additional updates as needed. Again, beginning July 15, these notifications will be posted on our COVID-19 communications webpage, as needed.
Students should report COVID symptoms, test results or other concerns to the Student Wellness Center. Faculty and staff should report any COVID symptoms to their medical provider, or to the Wellness Center if they don’t have a medical provider. Positive employee test results should be reported to an individual’s supervisor or to HR, at 816-235-1229.
