Fall 2025 COVID Update

Dear Undergraduate Students,

With the beginning of another academic year now upon us, Student Health Services would like to provide some guidance on COVID-19. As of August 2025, the omicron variant has been replaced with current subvariants, including XFG, aka “Stratus,” and NB.1.8.1, aka “Nimbus”. These subvariants continue to cause COVID-19 infections nationwide. Thanks to immunization practices and other health measures, the burden of this disease in terms of severe illness, hospitalization, and death continues to diminish. While we are awaiting the final recommendations for this year’s seasonal COVID-19 immunization from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, we want to remind students about the following:

1. Signs and Symptoms:
   1. COVID-19 can look like a cold, the flu, or allergies. Common symptoms include fever/chills, cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle aches, headache, loss of taste/smell, sore throat, congestion/runny nose, nausea/vomiting, diarrhea, or rash.
   2. If you are not sure, test.
2. How COVID Spreads:
   1. Mainly through respiratory particles when an infected person breathes, talks, coughs or sneezes, especially in indoor, crowded, or poorly ventilated spaces
   2. Risk of spreading COVID-10 can be reduced by improving indoor air, masking when advised, hygiene, and vaccination
3. Testing: Where, When, and How Much
   1. If you have symptoms:
      1. Use a rapid antigen test, now.
      2. If you do not have a rapid antigen test on hand, you can find one at any of the following locations:

• If the rapid antigen test is negative, but symptoms persist, you can repeat an antigen test up to 3 times, keeping tests 48 hours apart

4. If you are sick or test positive:
   1. Stay home and away from others while you are having symptoms like a fever
   2. You may resume normal activities when overall symptoms are improving, and you’ve been fever-free for > 24 hours without needing to use fever-reducing medications
   3. For the next 5 days, add precautions like wearing a surgical mask, using an air purifier, practicing good hand hygiene, and social distancing
   4. Remember to cover your cough or sneeze
   5. Considerations:
      1. Wear a mask when indoors or around others for 10 days
      2. Avoid contact with people at high risk for severe COVID-19 for 10 days

• Seek treatment if you have symptoms or are at higher risk for severe COVID-19

1. The potential infectious period is 2 days before the date of symptoms began or the positive test date

5. Contact Tracing and Notifying Close Contact:
   1. Routine public health contact tracing is no longer conducted for most community settings in California
   2. If you test positive, consider notifying close contacts with whom you shared indoor air, starting 2 days before symptoms or your positive test
   3. Close contacts should monitor their own symptoms and consider wearing a mask around high-risk people for 10 days, and possibly taking a test at day 5 or before visiting high-risk individuals
6. Treatment:
   1. If you have COVID-19, you are at higher risk (e.g., certain medical conditions, immunocompromised, pregnant), and medications can reduce hospitalization and death. An ideal time to start these medications is within 5-7 days of symptom onset
   2. Contact Student Health Services or Timely Care to see if you’re eligible for antiviral treatment
7. Prevention (Everyday Steps):
   1. Stay up to date on immunizations
   2. Improve indoor air (open windows, air purifiers)
   3. Practice good hand hygiene (handwashing, cover coughs and sneezes)
   4. Consider wearing a mask (KN95 masks may be helpful, but cloth masks alone may decrease your chances of contracting COVID-19 by 56%!)

We hope this information is helpful. We will continue to share updates with any changes related to either the COVID-19 viral illness or immunization recommendations. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us and schedule a visit with a nurse or provider to obtain any other information that you may need. You can contact us via the student health portal, available here, or call us at (909) 621-8222.

Thank you,
Sirisha Mohan MD
Assistant Medical Director, Student Health Services