UC Davis this week begins notifying employees of possible exposure to COVID-19 at work, as required by a new state law, Assembly Bill 685. 

You may be wondering …

Who gets these notifications?

UC Davis requires employees and students to report their COVID-19 infections. When we determine that employees or students were at UC Davis work sites during the regulation-defined infectious period, we notify all other employees and students who were at UC Davis work sites the same days or anytime within 14 days prior to each report date.

What’s in the notice?

It will advise you of potential exposure and direct you to a dashboard where you can see all the potential-exposure dates and the work sites where the exposures may have occurred. Also, the notices are in English and Spanish.

How do you know I was on-site? And why do you go back 14 days?

Because you filled out the Daily Symptom Survey, as required. Fourteen days is simply the time frame we use to prepare our email lists, based on Daily Symptom Survey data. Therefore, you may receive notices about potential exposures on days you were not even at a UC Davis work site.

OK, let’s say I was at a work site on the day of a potential exposure. But my work site wasn’t anywhere near the infected person’s work site.

That’s a good possibility considering we have more than 2,000 work sites. But, while the Daily Symptom Survey tells us you were here, it doesn’t tell us where you were. Therefore, we are unable to filter our email list by location. Instead, everyone who has completed at least one Daily Symptom Survey within the past 14 days will receive a notice.

Why am I getting multiple notices, day after day?

You will receive a notice every time the Daily Symptom Survey indicates you were on-site the same days as someone who was infectious, or anytime during the 14 days prior to each report date.

Should I be worried?

As long as you have been wearing a face covering, keeping 6 feet apart, practicing good hand hygiene, keeping your hands off your face and regularly disinfecting your workspace, then your risk of exposure remains low.

What if I was at the same work site on the potential exposure dates?

There’s really nothing for you to do. We cannot tell you who was infectious; we can tell you only the affected work sites and the days of potential exposure. However, if during contact tracing you are identified as having had close contact with the infected person, you will be notified by the contact tracing team and given instructions. You will not be contacted if you were not identified as a close contact through the normal response investigation.

What if I work off campus?

We report potential exposures at any UC Davis work site, which includes buildings, stores, facilities, agricultural fields and other locations. If you are completing the required Daily Symptom Survey, then you will be notified if a potential exposure occurs.

What if I’m not getting these notices, but I’ve been on campus?

Are you completing the required Daily Symptom Survey? That’s how we build our email lists. You can also go directly to our Potential Worksite Exposure Reporting webpage, which lists report dates, work sites and potential exposure dates.

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