CUNY and COVID

Rate of Positivity

Since the peak of the omicron surge, the rate of positivity detected on our campuses has drastically and steadily declined. 

Masks After an Exposure

The University’s quarantine guidance will remain unchanged. 

• if you are fully vaccinated and have received a booster shot, or if you tested positive for COVID-19 within the last 90 days, and you come into close contact with someone with COVID-19, you do not need to quarantine and may return to work or class. 

• But you need to wear a mask for 10 days from the date of your last close contact and get tested at least 5 days after the close contact. 

What is CUNY's policy if I test positive? 

Please read the full CUNY guidance. Employees and students who are confirmed to have COVID-19 or are showing symptoms of COVID-19 need to isolate regardless of their vaccination status. When to end isolation, test and return to in-person work or class varies depending on whether or not a person develops symptoms or is severely ill. Please follow CUNY’s guidance on isolation spelled out here and summarized below.

Everyone who has a presumed or confirmed COVID-19 should stay home and isolate from other people for at least 5 full days after first developing symptoms or, for asymptomatic persons, after testing positive. Day 0 is the first day you developed symptoms, or the day of your positive test. While in isolation, monitor your symptoms. If you have an emergency warning sign (including trouble breathing), seek emergency medical care immediately.

Vaccines and Boosters

The suspension of mandatory masking does not affect the student booster requirement for those enrolled in hybrid or fully in-person courses. Students enrolled in hybrid or fully in-person courses must 

1. upload proof of their booster within 30 days of the date they first become eligible to receive the booster. 

2. All full- and part-time faculty, non-teaching instructional staff and ECPs are required to be fully vaccinated and their proof of vaccination uploaded into CUNYfirst by April 1. Requests for medical exemptions or religious exceptions will be considered and the employee process for submitting such requests will be communicated in the near future.

Testing and Random Testing

To monitor COVID-19 moving forward, CUNY’s mandatory testing for anyone with medical exemptions or religious exceptions and the random testing program for vaccinated individuals will continue to operate without change. Free PCR testing continues to be available for students, faculty and staff at CUNY testing sites and I encourage you to take advantage of this service for any reason you might need it.

Ventilation

The upgrade and maintenance of our campus ventilation systems has been a priority since the early stages of the pandemic. In the last two years we have injected $150 million in capital funds into our HVAC systems, and we requested additional capital dollars in our current budget request to continue these upgrades.