On Thursday, June 11, Governor Northam issued guidance for Virginia’s public and private higher education institutions to reopen their campuses and resume in-person instruction. Individual institutions must create reopening plans to align with guidance developed by the Office of the Secretary of Education, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, and the Virginia Department of Health. Plans must address the following considerations:
- Repopulation of the campus;
- Monitoring health conditions to detect COVID-19 infection;
- Containment to prevent spread of the COVID-19 when detected; and
- Shutdown considerations if necessitated by severe conditions and/or public health guidance.
Contact Information
- General questions can be addressed to respiratory@vdh.virginia.gov.
- Outbreaks should be reported to the Local Health Department.
Setting Specific Resources
- (UPDATED) Contact Tracing as a Partnership between VDH and Institutions of Higher Education (7/21/20)
- Higher Education Reopening Guidance (6/12/20)
- VDH Interim Testing Recommendations for Colleges and Universities (7/2/20)
- Role of Public Health and College/Universities in Preparedness and Response Efforts (6/4/20)
- American College Health Association Guidelines for Reopening
- American College Health Association COVID-19 Resources
- State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV)
- CDC Guidance for Institutes of Higher Education
- CDC Considerations for Institutes of Higher Education
- CDC Guidance for Shared or Congregate Housing