Skip to main content

Safeguarding Your Health Over Winter Break

December 9, 2022

Dear members of the SLU community,

As winter break approaches, I write with information to help protect your health and the health of the SLU community. This email includes:

COVID-19 and flu infections and hospitalizations

COVID-19 cases are once again increasing across St Louis and the U.S. as a whole. COVID-19-related cases andhospitalizations increased significantly in the last weekand are expected to continue to rise. We are also experiencing one of the worst flu outbreaks we have seen in the last decade.

These are not trends we wish to see right now, with end-of-the-semester activities, finals, and the winter holidays when friends and family will be gathering in celebration.

There are actions you can take to protect your health and the well-being of your loved ones. As wereminded you in November: Get vaccinated, stay home if you become ill, practice good hand hygiene, and consider wearing a mask in public spaces.

Final campus vaccination clinic for the semester

We will hold one finalvaccination clinic on campusfor the fall semester, from 1 - 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 13, in Simon Rec Center.

Flu vaccination available at Student Health

The Student Health Center also offers flu vaccines to students. ContactStudent Health(314-977-2323) to make an appointment.

If you have questions about getting your flu shot, you can check outSLU’s flu vaccination webpage, emailfightflu@slu.eduor read more about it at theCDC website.

What to do if you have symptoms

Many respiratory viruses are circulating in the community right now, with very similar symptoms. The best way to know which disease you have and receive the correct treatment is to get tested.

If you test positive for COVID-19 or flu over winter break, please let us know. As always, if you test positive, please stay home and do not return to campus.

If you have a fever (temperature over 1000F) but test negative, stay home. Do not come to work or class/campus until you have been fever-free for 24 hours without the need to take fever-reducing medication.

If you have flu or COVID-19-like symptoms other than a fever but test negative, you may come to campus for work or class, but you must wear a mask until your symptoms have resolved.

As always, please emailpandemic@slu.eduif you can’t find the answer to your question on SLU’s website.

Thanks so much to all of you for your commitment to OneSLU and protecting the public health on our St. Louis campuses and in our region.

A special thank you toour School of Nursing faculty and students, who have once again helped deliver COVID-19 and flu vaccinations to our community members this fall. And to all ofour employees and students who are healthcare workers: Thank you for continuing to provide compassionate care to those with RSV, flu, and COVID-19.We are grateful for the work you do to keep our community safe.

Stay safe and be well.

Terri Rebmann, Ph.D., RN, CIC, FAPIC
Special Assistant to the President
Director, Institute for Biosecurity
Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
College for Public Health and Social Justice