The following charts are updated each day. The data come from AppHealthCare district health department and reflect the confirmed cases at Appalachian State University. The “Employees” category includes both faculty and staff. The “Subcontractors” category indicates individuals working on campus construction projects who are employed by private construction companies, rather than the university.
Detailed information on regional cases is available on the AppHealthCare website. Note: There is some overlap between the data reported on the two dashboards; however, the App State dashboard does include some cases outside of the AppHealthCare reporting area.
Data Last Updated: 9/21/2020 2:38:30 PM
| Current active case count (currently in isolation) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Students | Employees | Subcontractors |
| 78 | 0 | 0 |
| Current cumulative case count (since 3/27/20) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Students | Employees | Subcontractors |
| 383 | 26 | 41 |
The Daily Summary charts include at-a-glance numbers of current active cases (people in isolation) for App State students, employees and subcontractors as well as cumulative cases since March 27. Active cases are those individuals who are currently in isolation per instructions from public health.
App State reports confirmed cases of all students, employees and subcontractors regardless of where they are or where they are tested. The Environmental Health and Safety & Emergency Management team works with public health to confirm all reported cases prior to adding them to the dashboard. Some of the cases reported on the App State dashboard are reported by other public health agencies, but all are confirmed by public health before they are added to the App State dashboard.
As noted on the above App State COVID-19 Active Cases graph, active cases represent those individuals who are in isolation, and individuals are included in the active case count for the duration of their isolation period as determined by public health. There is no set time for isolation.
A cluster is defined by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services as a minimum of five cases with illness onsets or initial positive results within a 14-day period and plausible epidemiologic linkage between cases. Cluster notification is a federally required public notification; therefore, the university will notify campus in the event of a cluster.
Whether you are an employee or a student, you are required to report the following:
You can self-report this information to Environmental Health, Safety and Emergency Management in either of two ways:
Students, faculty and staff who hear about others who may have COVID-19 can use the Illness/Exposure Concern Report to submit a “Care and Concern” report to ensure the university is aware of their positive test result. In addition, if you have a concern about a student, you can report that concern to the Dean of Students.
When you complete this form, the university will immediately begin working with public health professionals to reach out to the individual and conduct contact tracing and provide needed resources and support as needed. Faculty and staff who may need leave for reasons related to COVID-19 should communicate with their supervisor and/or Human Resources about special COVID-19 leave provisions that are currently in effect.
NOTE: App State will report positive cases of faculty, staff and students that have been verified by public health to campus. No personally identifiable information will be shared with the University community.
All reported information will remain confidential.
Over the coming months, it is likely we will see an increase in self-reported cases that have not been tested by AppHealthCare or App State. When we hear of these reports, we are coordinating with local public health agencies to the greatest extent possible, in consultation with the North Carolina Division of Public Health Communicable Disease team, to confirm positive cases.
In North Carolina, when someone tests positive, their health care provider is required by law to report that to their local health department. They also report positive test cases to the state. This is to ensure health care is being provided to individuals who have tested positive, and the health of the public is being protected by implementing isolation procedures.
When an App State student, faculty or staff member tests positive, the local public health department makes contact with that person and gives public health guidance to isolate away from others, stay home and not go to work. AppHealthCare is responsible for public health in Watauga, Ashe and Alleghany Counties.
Additionally, local public health departments are responsible for contact tracing – no matter where someone received a test. This means AppHealthCare will work to:
Students, faculty and staff who are tested on campus are identified as affiliated with App State at the time their test is taken. It is possible for a student, faculty or staff member to be tested by an entity not connected with App State or AppHealthCare and not identify any connection with App State. In that instance,they would still be isolated by public health and unable to attend classes or work, and would be identified as associated with the university when they complete their Illness/Exposure Concern Report and/or reach out to faculty and/or their supervisor to explain their inability to attend.
Contact tracing is under the purview of public health. The university assists as needed.
There is no punishment for individuals who disclose their close contacts, and AppHealthCare and university staff will not share personally identifying information.
Students, faculty and staff should, to the greatest extent possible, limit travel and interactions with those who are not in their immediate household in order to reduce exposure and help keep our community safe.
AppHealthCare, our local health department, is responsible for public health in Watauga, Ashe and Alleghany Counties.
When a student, faculty or staff member tests positive for COVID-19 or is exposed and needs to be isolated or quarantined, the university assists our local health department as needed. Isolation is implemented with confirmed positive cases; quarantine is implemented with cases of potential exposure.
Isolation is managed by the individual’s local public health agency, and people who are instructed to isolate are not likely to be permitted to travel.
In the event of a positive test, only close contacts of those who have tested positive will be notified by health care providers. This is to protect the privacy of the individuals and prevent the disclosure of protected health information. This procedure is also consistent with CDC and public health guidelines, as well as with the university’s communicable disease notification practice.
The university has a dedicated website about its response to COVID-19, where you can find a dashboard with case counts that is updated as positive cases related to the university are identified. App State will use this dashboard to keep the university community informed about verified, positive cases.
Additionally, AppHealthCare has developed a website dashboard with case counts for Watauga, Ashe and Alleghany counties.
The following university entities have posted coronavirus information for their specific audiences.