What to Do if You Test Positive for COVID-19

Contact your instructor(s) to inform them of your positive case of COVID-19 and to make arrangements for class assignments.

If you cannot reach an instructor, notify Debbie Marriott-Simes at dmarriot-simes@cypresscollege.edu. She will connect you with a dean and/or the Vice President of Student Services to discuss your next steps.

• Stay home for five (5) days from onset of symptoms.
• Students may return to campus on the sixth (6) day after symptoms first appeared if their symptoms are improving.  (e.g. cough, shortness of breath, sneezing) and are fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medicine. If symptoms are not improving, students must continue to isolate until they are fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medicine and their symptoms are improving.
• Students who have no symptoms and have not tested positive may return to campus. Students who tested positive but never developed symptoms may return to the campus on the sixth (6) day after their first positive COVID-19 test.

If you prefer not to test and have COVID-19 symptoms, isolate for 10 days from the onset of symptoms if symptoms have resolved without meds.

COVID reporting by employees and students is still required (until early February 2025). The COVID Questionnaire is on myGateway via the dashboard for all staff and students who are sick.

The California Department of Public Health added the following definitions for close contact and infection period to their State Public Health Officer Order for COVID-19 Disease Control & Prevention dated June 20, 2023.

“For the purposes of the California Department of Public Health’s recommendations regarding isolation and quarantine for persons infected with or exposed to COVID-19 and outbreaks, the following definitions apply:

1. “Close Contact” means the following:

1. ​ In indoor spaces 400,000 or fewer cubic feet per floor (such as home, clinic waiting room, airplane etc.), a close contact is defined as sharing the same indoor airspace for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period (for example, three separate 5-minute exposures for a total of 15 minutes) during  a confirmed case’s infectious period.
2. ​In large indoor spaces greater than 400,000 cubic feet per floor (such as open-floor-plan offices, warehouses, large retail stores, manufacturing, or food processing facilities), a close contact is defined as being within 6 feet of the confirmed case for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period during the confirmed case’s infectious period.

Spaces that are separated by floor-to-ceiling walls (e.g., offices, suites, rooms, waiting areas, bathrooms, or break or eating areas that are separated by floor-to-ceiling walls) must be considered distinct indoor airspaces.

2. “Infectious Period” is defined as:

2. ​​For symptomatic confirmed cases, 2 days before the confirmed case had any symptoms (symptom onset date is Day 0) through Days 5–10 after symptoms first appeared AND 24 hours have passed with no fever, without the use of fever-reducing medications, and symptoms have improved, OR
3. For asymptomatic confirmed cases, 2 days before the positive specimen collection date (collection date is Day 0) through Day 5 after positive specimen collection date for their first positive COVID-19 test.

For the purposes of identifying close contacts and exposures, symptomatic and asymptomatic confirmed cases who end isolation in accordance with CDPH Isolation and Quarantine Guidance are no longer considered to be within their infectious period. In alignment with CDC Recommendations for Isolation and Precautions for People with COVID-19,  The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) updated isolation recommendations on March 13, 2023. Individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19 should continue to isolate for 5 days, but may leave isolation after 5 days, if they are feeling well, symptoms are improving, and they have been fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications.  In addition, persons may also remove their mask after ending isolation sooner than 10 full days if they have two sequential negative tests at least one day apart.”