Coronavirus

General FAQs - 2020

• Do faculty, staff, and students have to access the building 24/7?

  No. Deep cleaning takes place during the overnight shift, so the building closes at 11 pm each evening and reopens at 6:30 am the following morning. For everyone’s health and safety, it is important to ensure the building is empty from 11pm-6:30am each day. The card swipes are activate on the main lobby doors for all faculty and staff members as well as students

• Is there standard signage about the new building protocols?

  Yes, standard signage has been hung throughout our building to remind our community about hygiene, social distancing, and mask requirements. We welcome your input about how signage can be improved

• Is there training on proper hand washing and infection control protocols for faculty and staff and students to adhere to and help each other with?

  Yes, the communications subcommittee has created an educational campaign and training materials. You can access these video modules here.

• What does the new cleaning protocol entail? Do we have enough cleaning staff to support the additional steps that will need to be taken?

  The current version of the University-wide cleaning protocol is posted on the website. Custodial Operations protocols are based on the most recent CDC and New York State guidelines and requirements and include the use of electrostatic disinfectant spray and EPA registered disinfectants approved for use against COVID.

  There is a sufficient number of custodial staff members to execute new protocols. The new protocols increase the frequency of high traffic/high touch surface cleaning and disinfecting during the day and evening. Overnight, the portable disinfection mister machines disinfect all common and high-traffic spaces. This does require, however, that our building be empty overnight, starting at 11pm, so that the overnight crew can clean. There are no exceptions.

  As always, Custodial Operations is responsible for the overall cleaning and disinfecting in our building, but the NYS Reopening Guidelines also call for community responsibility, such that individuals assist by wiping down shared equipment, such as keyboards and mice in our classrooms and conference rooms, and desktop surfaces in shared areas when they are finished using that area. Sanitizing wipes are provided in limited quantities by the ZSOM for this purpose. We ask that when you wipe down shared equipment or shared work areas, that you only use one wipe for the entire area so we can conserve our wipes as much as possible. You will also be responsible for wiping down your desk and electronic equipment each night.

• Are bathrooms outfitted with touchless equipment?

  No, however, hand soap and hand sanitizer are available in all bathrooms and immediately outside all bathrooms. Hand dryers are out of service.

• Are sensor-operated doors being considered?

  No.

• Have there been changes to the air ventilation/filtration system for our building?

  Yes, Hofstra’s Plant Department installed M13 high-efficiency air filters in the ZSOM. These filters are in compliance with CDC recommendations for air filtration. In addition, the Plant Department work to ensure that the ventilation system brings in more outside air.

• Are masks be required and are they provided?

  Yes, masks are required for every person to enter an on-campus building, including our ZSOM facility. ZSOM provides three washable, reusable cloth masks for every student, faculty, and staff member. Masks are required, unless you are alone within your own workspace, and at least six feet apart from others, or eating in a designated eating area, and at least six feet apart from others

• Are we allowed to wear our own mask or are we required to wear the mask that ZSOM provides?

  Faculty, staff, and students may wear their own masks, provided that they meet certain requirements to ensure that they are equivalent to or more effective than the masks that are provided by the school. Cloth masks must have two layers of cloth with a filter in between. Procedure masks, surgical masks, and N95 masks are acceptable. Please remember to wash your cloth masks often. Bandanas and scarves will not meet the ZSOM’s requirement. Masks with a valve or vent are not permitted. The ZSOM-issued navy and white cloth masks contain a washable mesh filter between the two layers of fabric. This is a permanent filter and does not need to be replaced.

• Is other PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) besides masks provided?

  Specialized PPE, such as procedure masks, gloves, and eye protection is provided to students, faculty, and staff members involved in specific curricular sessions where physical distancing cannot be maintained (e.g., EMT ambulance runs, structure lab, clinical skills sessions). For daily office activities, PPE beyond a cloth mask is not required or recommended by the CDC and New York State, and therefore, is not provided.

• Are we able to remove our masks to eat?

  Yes, but social distancing rules will still apply while eating.

• Where can we eat while at the SOM?

  Eating may only take place in a designated eating area or a private workspace; eating in other public areas of our building is prohibited. The east multipurpose rooms (Rooms 100, 101, 102), the café, and the café’s outdoor patio are set up with tables and chairs that encourage social distancing. These areas are clearly marked with signage that indicates they are designated eating areas. We ask that you refrain from rearranging the furniture in those spaces. The outdoor patio includes a tent with additional seating beyond what we usually have. Our indoor designated eating areas is currently limited to 92 occupants in total (38 in the Café and 54 in the east multipurpose rooms). The outdoor areas creates additional seating capacity, which can be shared when this information is available.

  In preparation for the winter months, we will have the following changes to our designated eating areas:

  • The outdoor tent will be taken down after Thanksgiving as it is not equipped to handle any extreme weather
  • We are converting the 201MET as a safe eating space

  This is in addition to the East Multipurpose rooms and Servery as designated eating areas. There will be enough space for 116 people to eat and maintain a safe social distance. Each dining area is also equipped with wipe down stations for your use.

• Are extra masks available if I forget my mask at home?

  Yes, there is a limited supply of procedure masks available at the ZSOM. Please try to remember to bring a mask with you every time you come to campus.

• Is social distancing required?

  Yes. Everyone in our building is required to maintain six-foot social distancing whenever possible, in addition to wearing masks. Also, every room within our building has at most a 50% occupancy maximum, meaning 50% or less than the fire marshal approved occupancy. The exception to the six-foot social distancing guideline will be during clinical skills curricular sessions and any other curricular sessions in which six-foot social distancing cannot be maintained.

• Should we limit the number of people that enter our office spaces?

  Yes. Faculty, staff, and students should be wearing masks at all times and maintaining six-foot social distance. If a group of people arrives unexpectedly to have a conversation in your office space, and social distancing is not possible, you should move to a larger space or convert the meeting to a virtual format.

• Are there any restrictions on when we can use the bathrooms?
  No, although the requirement to wear a mask and maintain six-foot social distancing still applies while in the restrooms. If you cannot safely maintain social distancing in the restroom due to overcrowding, you must form a line with appropriate social distancing and wait.
• Are the servery and café open?

  A re-designed servery is open from 7:30am-3:00pm, M-F. Buffet and communal self-serve areas of the servery are no longer available (e.g. salad bar, communal milk for coffee), but there will be an attendant and many of the foods you are accustomed to seeing, including eggs, oatmeal, soups, salads, sandwiches, snacks, and drinks are available.

• Are staff/faculty lounge and coffee areas open? What is the policy re: communal refrigerators, coffee machines, use of break rooms, etc.?

  Yes, all lounge and coffee areas are open for use, but not for eating. Social distancing, face masks, and hand hygiene requirements still apply in these areas. Sanitizing wipes and hand sanitizer are available in these areas to promote hand hygiene. Eating and drinking must take place only in designated eating areas or in private workspaces.

• Are hallways one-directional?

  No, although all are encouraged not to gather/linger unnecessarily in the hallways and follow social distancing rules as much as possible while moving throughout the building.

• Are people allowed to order food from outside vendors to be delivered to the building?

  Yes, but delivery people are required to wear masks when entering the building.

• Are students, staff and faculty required to monitor symptoms daily? How is this conducted? Are daily temperature screens required?

  Yes, all students, staff and faculty members are required to complete this mandatory health screening questionnaire each day they come to campus, prior to arrival. At this time, daily temperature screens are not required, but forehead thermometers are available at the front desk for anyone who wishes to screen their own temperature.

• What should I do if I am exhibiting one of the CDC defined symptoms of COVID-19?

  If you develop one of the CDC defined symptoms of COVID-19, do not come to work/school, or if you are already at work, please isolate yourself and leave the building immediately. Also, employees please notify your supervisor and students notify the Office of Student Affairs or complete an absence form.. The ZSOM will provide you with a protocol to follow. Absence form: FOW | SOW.

• If students or employees leave the building, do need to be re-checked upon entry?

  No, the screening questionnaire is only required once per day. However, if upon re-entry to the building, a student or employee no longer feels well, or believes they may have been exposed, the employee should not return to work and should contact their supervisor to report their absence and students should complete an absence form. Absence form: FOW | SOW.

• If students, faculty, and/or staff travel, is there a protocol in place to ensure that the risk of an infection entering our community is low?

  We follow the New York State Governor’s directive with regard to travel advisories. As of November 1, 2020, anyone arriving from a state with a 10% or higher positivity rate of a 7-day rolling average must either quarantine for 14 days upon arrival in NY or must following the testing procedure found here .

• Is COVID-19 diagnostic (nasal swab) testing available on campus?

  Yes, Hofstra has an on-campus testing center where diagnostic testing is available to students only. Faculty and staff members who believe they are exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 or have had a possible exposure to someone with COVID-19 should not report to work. Employees who may be sick should follow-up with their healthcare provider and can locate a testing site in their area on the NYS website./p>

• Will antibody serology testing be available on campus?

  No.

• Will nasal swab or antibody testing be required?

  required.Nasal swab testing is required only as part of the Hofstra-wide screening of students.

• Will we be able to bring food into the building?

  Yes.

• Will we be able to use the water fountains to fill our water bottles?

  Yes.

• Are visitors allowed in our building?

  No visitors (family members, guest speakers, etc.) are allowed in our building except for people making deliveries. Hofstra is considering making that a campus-wide policy.

• Do medical students follow the same guidelines and procedures as Hofstra undergraduate students?

  In general, the same guidelines apply (mandatory masks, social distancing, and hand hygiene). For any discrepancies between Hofstra and SOM, medical students are to follow the SOM guidelines and procedures.