COVID-19 Resources and Alerts

Updated September 17, 2020

Upcoming ACHA Events

ACHA COVID-19 Task Force “Ask the Expert”: Wastewater Surveillance

Friday, September 25, 2020, at 1:30-2:30 PM ET

Please join us as we hear from CDC and academic researchers about the potential role of wastewater surveillance to detect COVID-19 on college and university campuses. Wastewater surveillance is a promising strategy to understand changes in COVID-19 infections in communities, but there remain key questions about building-level sampling and testing, data processing and analysis, and interpretation of findings. The webinar will include a 30-minute presentation and a 30-minute Q&A session. This webinar will be recorded and made publicly available on ACHA's YouTube channel.

(Re)Introducing Best Practices in Sexual Health Promotion and Clinical Care in the COVID-19 Era

Friday, September 25, 2020, at 3:00 PM ET

Join members of the ACHA Sexual Health Promotion and Clinical Care Coalition's leadership team as they review the ACHA Guidelines: Best Practices in Sexual Health Promotion and Clinical Care, provide suggestions for how to adapt in the COVID-19 era, answer participant questions, and preview a new toolkit designed to assist with organizational development and implementation.This webinar is sponsored by the American College Health Foundation with support from Hologic.

COVID-19 Virtual Summit 2: 344 Days and Counting

December 8-9, 2020 (tentative date)
Call for Programs Deadline: September 21

As the nation continues to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, ACHA is committed to bringing college health and wellness professionals up-to-date information and resources for how to best manage the disease on campus. We have changed the title of the Infectious Diseases and Outbreaks Summit to COVID-19 Virtual Summit 2: 344 Days and Counting (named for the number of days since the first known case to the summit date) to better reflect this goal. This summit is designed to provide institutions with best practices and strategies for how to respond to COVID-19 challenges and explore strategies for mass vaccinations. Learn more and submit a proposal here.

ACHA Resources

ACHA COVID-19 Guidelines

NEW! Supporting Vulnerable Campus Populations During the COVID-19 Pandemic [pdf] (posted August 20, 2020)
Considerations for Reopening Institutions of Higher Education in the COVID-19 Era [pdf] (posted May 7, 2020)
Preparing for COVID-19 [pdf] (posted March 3, 2020)

COVID-19 Testing

NEW! August 2020 Update: Covers several approaches to testing that college health professionals can consider when planning a testing strategy for their campus, as well as testing priorities and capacity.
June 2020 Update: Provides clarification on testing, including testing priorities and capacity and issues to consider when considering a mass testing or screening program. Based on information available in June 2020.

Checklists for Reopening Campus Medical Services Operations and Mental Health Service Operations

The ACHA COVID-19 Task Force has created two documents to assist with reopening operations, one specific to reopening medical services, and one to reopening mental health services. These resources were developed as a companion to the ACHA Guidelines: Considerations for Reopening Institutions of Higher Education in the COVID-19 Era, and are intended to assist directors and staff in assessing their readiness and preparation for reopening as well as serve as a guidepost for reinstituting and modifying services in the changed world of COVID-19.

Checklist for Considerations Related to Reopening Campus Medical Service Operations (revised August 4, 2020, to include CDC updates on release from isolation criteria)
Checklist for Considerations Related to Reopening Campus Mental Health Service Operations

The Impact of COVID-19 on College Student Well-Being

ACHA, in collaboration with the Healthy Minds Network, developed a new set of survey items related to students’ experiences with the COVID-19 pandemic. The new items focused on students’ attitudes, concerns, preventive behaviors, and their perceived supportiveness of colleges and universities related to COVID-19. View a brief data report which presents results from 18,764 students on 14 campuses that participated in the surveys from late March through May 2020.

ACHA Survey Reports on Health Centers' Pandemic Operating Status and Response

ACHA recently developed and administered two surveys to collect critical data to assist in the study of the COVID-19 pandemic event. The results included in these reports, "The COVID-19 Pandemic's Effect on Campus Health Services," represent a snapshot of the college health services' operating status and response at the time the surveys were conducted:

Weekly Update from COVID-19 Task Force

Archived Webinars, Q&As, and Events

COVID-19 Virtual Summit: Planning for Now, Building for the Future

>> This summit took place July 28 and 29, 2020. <<

Webinars and Q&As

NFID COVID-19 Update: Preparedness and Response on U.S. College Campuses

Recorded April 15, 2020. Co-hosted by ACHA. View the recording here .

Mental Health in the COVID-19 Era

ACHA Q&A Session; recorded April 3, 2020. View the recording on ACHA's YouTube channel.

Telehealth in the COVID-19 Era

ACHA Q&A Session; recorded March 27, 2020. View the recording on ACHA's YouTube channel.

Update on COVID-19

ACHA Q&A Session; recorded March 20, 2020. View the recording on ACHA's YouTube channel.

ACHA COVID-19 Webinar: Updates, Resources, and Guidelines

Recorded March 18, 2020. As COVID-19 continues to spread across our nation, campuses are pressured to contain and mitigate the virus and its effects. ACHA held this webinar to provide an update on the spread of COVID-19 and an overview of ACHA's new guidelines on COVID-19 and other resources that are being used to help guide campus actions. This webinar is offered in partnership with Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors (AFA), the American College Health Association (ACHA) and the Association of College Unions International (ACUI). View the recording on ACHA's YouTube channel.

Situation Updates

WHO Emergency Public Dashboard: Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Situation
The World Health Organization (WHO) Health Emergency Dashboard is a platform which aims to share information about public health events and emergencies. The data on the dashboard is refreshed every fifteen (15) minutes and data is accurate as at time of refreshing.

Coronavirus COVID-19 Global Cases by Johns Hopkins CSSE
Johns Hopkins University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) is tracking the COVID-19 spread in real-time in an interactive dashboard with data available for download.

Statista
Provides retrospective counts of new U.S. cases by date.

COVIDView
A weekly surveillance summary of U.S. COVID-19 activity. The report summarizes and interprets key indicators including information related to COVID-19 outpatient visits, emergency department visits, hospitalizations and deaths, as well as laboratory data.

Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington
Provides projections for all 50 states on when the projected peak of the pandemic will occur.

CDC Situation Updates:

Situation Summary
Cases in the U.S. (Includes total number of cases by date reported and total number of cases by symptom onset.)
Global Locations with COVID-19
Risk Assessment
CDC in Action: Preparing Communities

Information and Resources for Campuses

ACHA Guidelines

Preparing for COVID-19

The ACHA COVID-19 Task Force has prepared these guidelines [pdf] to help college health staff and campus administrators prepare for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and related issues on their campuses. The guidelines are intentionally broad so that each institution, small or large, can modify them based on existing campus and local resources. Moreover, each institution should seek guidance and coordination from their local and state public health agencies.

Guidelines on Reopening Campuses

View Considerations for Reopening Institutions of Higher Education in the COVID-19 Era [pdf] (posted May 7, 2020).

CDC Interim Guidance for Administrators of US Institutions of Higher Education

This interim guidance is intended to help administrators of public and private institutions of higher education (IHE) prevent the spread of COVID-19 among students, staff, and faculty.

CDC Guidance for Student Foreign Travel for Institutions of Higher Education

On March 1, CDC provided guidance to institutes of higher education (IHEs) for student foreign travel.

See the ACHA COVID-19 Task Force discussion of this guidance in the COVID-19 Update, March 5.

Communicating Information About COVID-19 to the Campus Community

CDC Communication Resources

CDC offers free resources including video, fact sheets, and posters. See this page to access current communication tools and resources available for use and distribution.

Event Planning Guidance

Key Planning Recommendations for Mass Gatherings

This document from the World Health Organization outlines key planning considerations for organizers of mass gatherings in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Information for Travelers

CDC COVID-19 Information for Travelers

State Department Travel Advisor ies

Institute for Disease Modeling COVID-19 InfoHub

The Institute for Disease Modeling’s (IDM) InfoHub contains epidemiological information and analyses about COVID-19 performed in the context of rapidly changing and dynamic circumstances. Critical information will be disseminated as quickly as possible. Features include this Glossary of Epidemiological Terms.

Resources for Health Care Providers

Information for Health Care Providers, First Responders, and Research Facilities

Nebraska Medicine: COVID-19 Resources for Providers

Nebraska Medicine and the University of Nebraska Medical Center have led the world in treatment, training, and quarantine methods for highly infectious diseases since caring for patients during the 2014 Ebola outbreak. See their COVID-19 resources for providers.

Courses and Other Educational Resources

Online COVID-19 Course from WHO

WHO is providing a free, short online course: Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) for Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19).

CDC Clinician Outreach and Communication Activity (COCA) Calls

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Update—What Clinicians Need to Know to Prepare for COVID-19 in the United States (Recorded March 5, 2020)
Outbreak of 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV)—Interim Guidance for Clinicians (Recorded January 31, 2020)

ACCME Novel Coronavirus Education Resources: Accredited CME Activities

The Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) has created a list of accredited continuing education (CE) activities and additional resources that can help the CE provider and clinician community respond to the novel coronavirus public health emergency. Many of these activities are available at low or no cost.

ACHA COVID-19 Webinar

ACHA, the Association of College and University Housing Officers-International (ACUHO-I), and the National Consortium for Building Healthy Academic Communities (BHAC) partnered for this webinar (held March 6, 2020) on the current state of COVID-19, practical considerations for your campus, and more.

Protecting Health Care Workers

WHO Guidance on COVID-19 Outbreak: Rights, Roles, and Responsibilities of Health Workers

CDC: What Healthcare Personnel Should Know about Caring for Patients with Confirmed or Possible COVID-19 Infection

Licensure and Telehealth

HHS: Notification of Enforcement Discretion for telehealth remote communications during the COVID-19 nationwide public health emergency
Telehealth Resource Center
Alliance for Connected Care: Telehealth Guidance Documents
Higher Education Mental Health Alliance (HEMHA) Guide "College Counseling from a Distance: Deciding Whether and When to Engage in Telemental Health Services"
AAFP: A virtual visit algorithm: how to differentiate and code telehealth visits, e-visits, and virtual check-ins
ACHA Endorses AUCCDD's March 12 Telemental Health Advocacy Letter to Congress
Guide of Telehealth Rules Across State Lines (identifies rules/laws for marriage and family therapists, professional counselors, psychologists, psychiatrists, and social workers to provide telemental health in the 50 states and the District of Columbia)
Federation of State Medical Boards—see this page for:

States waiving in-state licensure requirements for telehealth
States waiving licensure requirements in response to COVID-19
States expediting licenses for retired/inactive physicians
Guidance for federal, state, and local governments and government agencies seeking emergency changes to licensure requirements

HIPAA and FERPA Information

HHS COVID-19 & HIPAA Bulletin: Limited Waiver of HIPAA Sanctions and Penalties During a Nationwide Public Health Emergency (March 2020)
U.S. Department of Education Student Privacy Office: FERPA & COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions (March 2020)
AASA and Future Privacy Forum COVID-19 and FERPA FAQs: This white paper offers insight into how the health or safety emergency exception under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) allows schools to share students’ personally identifiable information (PII) with the community and relevant officials during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mental Health

See additional resources under Licensure and Telehealth.

SAMHSA guidance and resources to assist individuals, providers, communities, and states to help them navigate challenges posed by the current COVID-19 situation
Mental Health America Information and Resources For Mental Health Providers
Mental Health, Higher Education, and COVID-19: Strategies for Leaders to Support Campus Well-Being
AUCCCD statement on safely re-opening college counseling centers

Other Resources

Literature Hub

LitCovid is a curated literature hub for tracking up-to-date scientific information about the 2019 novel Coronavirus. It is the most comprehensive resource on the subject, providing a central access to 1200 (and growing) relevant articles in PubMed. The articles are updated daily and are further categorized by different research topics and geographic locations for improved access.

Providing Facilities and Support to Hospitals

Tufts University is providing this Operational, Legal and Risk Considerations for Colleges and Universities outline that institutions can consider when entering into agreements to share their residential halls, grounds, and other campus facilities with hospitals, cities, and other entities in the fight against COVID-19. Tufts has also created this mathematical modeling tool to connect hospitals to nearby college campuses.

Patient Tools

CDC Coronavirus Self-Checker

The purpose of the Coronavirus Self-Checker is to help people make decisions about seeking appropriate medical care. This system is not intended for the diagnosis or treatment of disease or other conditions, including COVID-19. This system is intended only for people who are currently located in the United States.

Other

COVID-19: An Illustrated Scientific Summary: Yale University has posted this 8-minute "whiteboard," a simplified, scientific summary about the novel coronavirus and the importance of flattening the curve, hand washing, and physical distancing. The information is up to date as of March 29, 2020. See Research, Clinical & Data Driven Responses to COVID-19 for more from Yale.
ACHA signs letter in support of S. 3503, legislation to ensure that veterans can continue to receive GI bill benefits when campuses are forced to move courses online due to COVID-19.

ACHA Partners with Project N95

Project N95, a volunteer organization, is the national COVID-19 clearinghouse for personal protective equipment (PPE) and other critical medical equipment. They are a rapid response non-profit organization whose mission is to get critical equipment into the hands of frontline workers as quickly as possible.

If you need PPE or medical equipment, we encourage you to submit a request for equipment to Project N95. When you submit this request, please make sure to note that you heard about Project N95 through ACHA. If you have questions, you can contact Project N95 at requests@projectn95.org.