Find App State’s COVID-19 dashboard here

If you test positive for COVID-19 follow the instructions below:

1. Stay home and reduce in-person contact with others in your household to the greatest extent possible.
2. Report your test result to the university here.
3. Monitor your symptoms and follow CDC guidelines for isolation. If you become concerned about your symptoms, contact your health care provider.

App State students who are concerned about symptoms they might be experiencing can contact Student Health Service at 828-262-3100; faculty and staff can contact AppHealthCare at 828-264-4995.

Students and employees are required to report the following via a secure Illness/Exposure Concern Report form:

• If a health care provider tells you that you are presumed positive for the novel coronavirus.
• Known COVID-19 exposures, regardless of vaccination status.
• If you have been instructed to quarantine by public health.

You can self-report this information to Environmental Health, Safety and Emergency Management in either of two ways:

• Via a secure Illness/Exposure Concern Report web form. 
• Via telephone, by calling 828-262-4008

*If you get tested and the results are positive, self-isolate, do not come to campus and self-report illness/exposure. The university will conduct contact tracing and follow up with you for symptoms.

Care and Concern reports

Students, faculty and staff can use the same form to submit a “Care and Concern” report:

• If a student or employee reports illness, tests and results, exposure and/or quarantine orders to you.
• If you hear of others who may have COVID-19 and/or a known exposure, regardless of vaccination status. 

In addition, if you have a concern about a student, you can report that concern to the Dean of Students.

Reporting COVID-19 test results

Students and employees are also required to report test results, if tested off-campus:

Students and employees who are unvaccinated or who have not yet uploaded their vaccine status are required to submit a COVID-19 test each week.

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.

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.

Local public health departments are responsible for contact tracing – no matter where someone received a test. When an App State student, faculty or staff member tests positive, App State’s contact tracing team makes contact with that person and, in partnership with local public health, gives that person guidance. Guidance for vaccinated persons will likely differ from guidance from unvaccinated persons, especially if the vaccinated person is not exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19.

 App State’s contact tracing team works closely with local public health to:

• Identify cases of COVID-19.
• Isolate those who have tested positive.
• Identify and quarantine close contacts of those who have tested positive.
• Monitor positive cases and close contacts until released.

If you are in a class with someone who tests positive for COVID-19, that does not necessarily mean you are a close contact. Close contacts are defined by the CDC as individuals who have been within 6 feet of an active case of COVID-19 for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more within a 24-hour period.

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 identified as associated with the university when they submit their positive test results and/or reach out to faculty and/or their supervisor to explain their inability to attend.

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.

AppHealthCare has developed a website dashboard with case counts for Watauga, Ashe and Alleghany counties.

Contact tracing is under the purview of public health. The university assists as needed.

• When a person tests positive for COVID-19, the university and local public health will work to determine who may have been exposed and in close contact with the confirmed positive individual. 
• They will then reach out to those who have been determined to have been in close contact with the confirmed positive individual to provide them with health care guidance. The CDC defines a close contact as someone who was within 6 feet of an infected person for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period.

There is no punishment for individuals who disclose their close contacts, and AppHealthCare and university staff will not share personally identifying information.

Students are held to a code of student conduct that requires them to follow the rules set out by the university.

Employees (faculty and staff) are required to follow university policies. Students and employees who violate the terms of their code of conduct or conditions of their employment will be subject to the appropriate disciplinary action.

If you have concerns about student compliance with university COVID-19 policies, read how to make a report and find additional guidance, information and resources from the Office of Student Conduct.

If you have concerns about faculty or staff compliance with university COVID-19 policies, submit a care and concern report or contact App State’s Department of Environmental Health, Safety and Emergency Management at safety@appstate.edu

Quarantine/Isolation requirements

App State follows CDC isolation and quarantine protocols for all students and employees who are required to isolate and quarantine by public health. 

• Our local public health department implements communicable disease control procedures to include data surveillance and reporting as well as the use of existing public health laws to control the spread of disease. Review the Appalachian District Board of Health’s position statement in support of ongoing response to COVID-19.