COVID-19 Response: What's Now, What's Next

Brandeis offers free, high-frequency testing for all community members in partnership with the Broad Institute. In addition, anyone living on campus or visiting campus must complete a daily health assessment.

Helpful Links

• FAQs: COVID-19 Testing

Any Brandeis community member who tests positive for COVID-19 must isolate for at least 10 days. Guidance, support and resources for isolation will be provided by a clinician, the Brandeis Community Tracing Program and the Dean of Students Office.

Helpful Links

• Next steps for students, faculty and staff who test positive for COVID-19
• Wellness During COVID-19: coping strategies and and quarantine resources

The Brandeis Community Tracing Program (BCTP) staff will interview the person with COVID-19 to identify any close contacts. Brandeis community tracers will reach out to close contacts who are Brandeis community members. The BCTP collaborates with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to notify close contacts outside the Brandeis community.

• Brandeis community tracers will contact you if you are identified as a close contact.
  • A close contact is someone who was within six feet of a person infected with COVID-19 for more than 15 minutes within a 24-hour period. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have more detailed information about close contacts.

By following the university's comprehensive health and safety rules, we will ensure that the fall semester is defined by the rich and engaging educational experience Brandeis is known for. Our protocols and procedures follow guidance provided by the city of Waltham, Middlesex County, the commonwealth of Massachusetts and the federal government.

Students, faculty and staff are expected to pledge that they will adhere to required health and safety guidelines established by the university and the commonwealth of Massachusetts. Each of us has a personal and shared responsibility to protect ourselves and those around us.

A Brandeis community tracer will alert close contacts and instruct them to quarantine for 14 days. Close contacts cannot “test out” of the 14-day quarantine. You cannot be tested at on-campus testing sites as part of our high-frequency testing for asymptomatic community members while in quarantine. If you need to be tested while in quarantine, you will be instructed to make an appointment at the Health Center or with your primary care provider. Brandeis community tracers will monitor close contacts and check for symptoms with follow-up calls every two days.

Helpful Links

• Quarantine: If You are Exposed to COVID-19

Why do close contacts quarantine for 14 days while positive cases isolate for as few as 10?

The purpose of quarantine is to separate a healthy person who was exposed to COVID-19 from the larger community in case they get sick. Quarantine lasts 14 days because it can take up to 14 days for someone who was exposed to COVID-19 to begin to experience symptoms. The purpose of isolation is to separate sick people from the community to prevent the spread of illness. A clinician will determine the length of isolation on a case-by-case basis, in accordance with state and federal public health guidance; the length of isolation depends on how quickly a sick person recovers from their illness.

A person in isolation can be released at least 10 days after symptoms begin or a positive test date, and after they have been fever-free for 24 hours without use of fever-reducing medication, and with improvement of respiratory conditions (if they were present).

A close contact can be released from quarantine after 14 days with no symptoms. Close contacts will resume on-campus testing per Brandeis protocols after completing quarantine.

Brandeis created an online COVID-19 Dashboard containing information about the number of individuals tested, positive cases on campus, and additional COVID-19 statistics in Massachusetts.