FHS Covid-19 Handbook

1. Confirm medical provider and/or clinical site has confirmed PUI status.
2. Decide on testing facility location:
   • Testing at a public clinical site near home/Residence
   • Testing at private test facility if with medical aid
   • If clinical student, testing at clinical site where student is allocated/based or testing at a public clinical site near clinical rotation.
   • Please click here for a list of PHC Public healthcare facilities that are testing sites.
   • Click here for a list of Lancet Laboratories for testing if with medical aid.
   • Visit a clinic testing site closest and most convenient for you, goggle for the map location.
3. Inform Course Coordinator of having been tested, circumstances around need for testing.
4. Inform Residence Manager next (whether stay at a Wits Residence, Hospital Nurses Residence or non-Wits Private Residence)
5. Begin Quarantine, Self-Isolation and/or Isolation following guidelines while waiting for test results (follow Quarantine/Self-Isolation/Isolation Guidelines in section below) and self-monitor for symptoms or worsening if present.
6. If positive test result, follow Scenario 1 in Risk & Scenarios table above.
7. If negative test result, continue to follow Scenario 2, 3 or 4.

WHAT DO I DO IF I TEST POSITIVE FOR COVID-19?  

On receiving news that you have tested positive for COVID-19, your response may be one of anxiety and concern. This is understandable as you will be concerned for yourself and concern for others with whom you have come into contact recently. 

Firstly, there is no reason to panic. You should remain calm and rational, as your own safety and those of others is supported by you responding to this news in a calm and rational manner. In fact, you can use your anxiety positively; you should use these emotions to help you focus on your next steps.  

Step 1, you should self-isolate as soon as possible. If you have been classified as a high-risk exposure in accordance with the screening guidelines, you will already be self-isolating at home or in your university residence. Similarly, if you have been experiencing symptoms, you will be doing the same. 

Any of us at any time may learn we test positive for COVID-19. Remember that the normal social distancing guidelines and Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) measures presume that anyone may have COVID-19, so in the immediate aftermath of receiving your news, you must simply be especially sure to adhere to the same guidelines as always.   

Be sure to inform both your Course Coordinator and your Residence Manager once you hear news of your test result. You need to start self-isolation (a person who tested positive and/or has symptoms who self-isolates in their own Residence room if able to) or start Isolation (a person who tested positive and/or has symptoms who relocates to a designated Isolation Residence).

If you can self-isolate in your own residence room and have a shared ablution/kitchen, use these common areas as sparingly as possible. Use these common areas on your own, wear a mask and sanitize all the surfaces with which you come into contact. 

The university has agreed that each Wits Residence will have designated Isolation rooms available for Wits Residence students. If you can not Self-Isolate in your own residence room, then within 24 hours of your test results, you will be assisted to relocate to the designated Isolation room, or to a different facility for the duration of your period of Isolation. You will be able to apply for a Care Kit, with household goods as necessary, because you will not be able to shop during this period.

Please contact anelisa.mofakeng1@wits.ac.za from Office of Student Success to apply for a Care Kit with food and supplies.  Or contact family members/relatives if they live within the area to help for food purchases and delivery.

Please follow the principles detailed in the national guidelines in the next section Quarantine/Self-Isolation/Isolation as applied to your context. 

If you live in a Hospital Nurses residence and test positive for COVID-19

Be sure to inform both your Course Coordinator and your Hospital Nurses Residence Manager once you hear news of your test result. It may not be possible for a Wits students who resides at a Hospital Nurses Residence to Self-Isolate in the residence (i.e. Witswaters Nurses Res, CHBAH Nurses Res). In this situation, arrangements will be made for the student to Isolate at a Government Isolation Facility set up for Healthcare workers and clinical students who test positive and/or have symptoms and need to Isolate.

Please follow the principles detailed in the national guidelines in the next section Quarantine/Self-Isolation/Isolation as applied to your context. 

If you live in a non-Wits Private Residence and test positive for COVID-19

Be sure to inform both your Course Coordinator and your non-Wits Private Residence Manager once you hear news of your test result. It may not be possible for a Wits students who resides at a non-Wits Private Residence to Self-Isolate in the residence (ie South Point, Student Digz, etc). However, arrangements will be made by the non-Wits Private Residence for the most appropriate location for the student to Isolate. This may require the student to re-locate to a Government Isolation Facility set up for Healthcare workers and clinical students who test positive and/or have symptoms and need to Isolate.

Please follow the principles detailed in the national guidelines in the next section Quarantine/Self-Isolation/Isolation as applied to your context. 

If you live at home and test positive for COVID-19

Be sure to inform your Course Coordinator once you hear news of your test result. If your home situation does not equate with communal living of a residence, then self-isolation could be considered at home (for a person who tests positive and/or has symptoms and can stay in their own room in their home). However, the risk of infecting family members/housemates or anyone else you live needs to be acknowledged, and appropriate precautions must be taken.  In this situation a student may need to Isolate in a Government Isolation Facility.

Please follow the principles detailed in the national guidelines in the next section Quarantine/Self-Isolation/Isolation as applied to your context. 

CONTACT TRACING GUIDELINE 

Contact tracing is being performed by NICD with every reported positive COVID-19 case. The Faculty of Health Sciences and the clinical sites, if relevant, can be proactive to inform any close contacts of the student.

• If the student was at a clinical site and subsequently tests positive for COVID-19, the student should provide the clinical site Preceptor with the locations and people they interacted with as close contacts for the clinical site to inform their staff and students.
• If the student was in an academic session, on campus, the student should provide their Course Coordinator with the location and people they interacted with as close contacts for the Course Coordinator to inform Wits staff and students.
• If the student was in a Wits Residence, Hospital Nurses Residence, non-Wits Private Residence, the student should provide their Residence manager with their location and people they interacted with as close contacts for the Residence Manager to inform the residents and staff. 
• The student should inform all their close contacts who they interacted with 14 days prior to testing positive for COVID-19.