Health Services COVID-19 update for October 2

Mark Parisi, director of counseling and health services at Saint Rose, sent the following weekly COVID-19 update to students today.

Dear Students,

At the time of my writing this message to you, we do not have any new positive COVID-19 cases to report. As a reminder, you can find a current tally of positive COVID-19 cases on campus by viewing our COVID-19 Dashboard. It will be updated as new cases are reported.

I want to take this opportunity to once again thank you for the great effort you continue to make to protect the health of our campus community!

I have a few important updates for you this week, so please make note.

Changes to the daily health screening form: We have changed the daily health screening form we require students to submit. (You’ve been doing yours, right?) A new “Symptoms Tracker for Students” will replace the old form, and it allows us to more efficiently track and notify students who may be experiencing symptoms or who have had some type of exposure to COVID-19. You can access the symptoms tracker through Navigate like before or you can access it in any of these ways:
• Your Navigate app (on your “To Do List”)
• The Health Services webpage
• Going directly to the patient portal

To complete the tracker, follow these steps:
1. Log in with your email username – the part before “@strose.edu” – and your email password.
2. You will see three horizontal lines below your name. (Fun fact: These lines, which are seen on many websites, constitute a menu icon called “the hamburger.”) Click on the three lines to open a dropdown menu where you will find “COVID-19” as an option.
3. Select COVID-19, and then choose “Symptoms Tracker Students,” and that will open the form to complete.

As before, you will complete this form every day. All students must complete the form whether they will be on campus or not for the day. Student Development staff will be reaching out each day to any students who do not complete the form.

Sample testing: In addition to the testing we do for students who request it, we are random sample testing small batches of our student population (students who live on campus, student-athletes, and students who are taking at least one course on campus). You may receive an email to come to Health Services to be tested. Please make arrangements to attend that scheduled day/time. If you receive an email and have concerns, respond to that email with your concerns, and they will be addressed. While our COVID-19 positive rates have been very low so far, these tests will help us be sure that our efforts continue to be effective. We will have additional information about testing efforts in the coming weeks.

An Urgent Care closure and some alternatives: The Urgent Care Center of Albany located on Myrtle Avenue has closed effective Wednesday, September 30. Given its proximity to our campus, this urgent care was heavily utilized by our College community. Other local urgent care options for times when our College Health Services is closed include:

• WellNow Urgent Care, 1438 Western Avenue, Albany
• Albany Med EmUrgent Care, Colonie Hannaford Plaza, 98 Wolf Road, Suite 16
• Albany Med EmUrgent Care, Town Squire Plaza, Glenmont

Our new expanded hours in Health Services will begin Wednesday, October 7, and will be 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Testing for COVID-19: COVID-19 testing is available through Health Services, and you should call 518.454.5244 or email healthservices@strose.edu if you are seeking testing.

Treatment at Health Services: For any nonurgent medical issue, students can call 518.454.5244 or email healthservices@strose.edu for assistance, and their cases will be triaged by our LPN or nurse practitioner. Based on the presenting concerns, the triage outcome may lead to a telehealth appointment with the nurse practitioner.

Treatment at the Counseling and Psychological Services Center: Students may be experiencing emotional distress in response to the impact of the pandemic on our daily lives in addition to simply adjusting to college life again. Please call our center at 518.454.5200 or email us at counseling@strose.edu to speak with a counselor through a phone or Zoom session.

Staying healthy: We are entering the influenza season, so you may have symptoms of illness that are not COVID-19. Look for our upcoming flu clinic and get vaccinated! We’ll put the word out as soon as we have details.

You can find the most current COVID-19 information on the CDC’s COVID-19 webpage. In addition, you can always call the New York State Department of Health Novel Coronavirus Hotline at 888.364.3065 and ask any question you have regarding COVID-19.

You can view COVID-19 data for the Capital Region (and by county) on the New York State Department of Health’s COVID-19 dashboard.

New York State has put out a new COVID-19 contact tracing app that you can download to your phone. This app will be used to help notify you if you have been in close contact with someone that has tested positive for COVID-19.

As always, if you have any concerns or questions, please contact the College’s Health Services at 518.454.5244 or healthservices@strose.edu.

Sincerely,

Mark Parisi
Director of Counseling and Health Services