Coronavirus

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced March 17, 2020, that it will waive potential penalties for HIPAA violations against health care providers that serve patients through communications technologies that are not fully compliant with the requirements of the HIPAA Rules during the COVID-19 nationwide public health emergency. You can review the Notification for Enforcement Discretion for telehealth remote communications on the HHS website here.

Here is the CDC guidance for household members of a person with COVID convalescing at home.

The bullet points at the end would be the ones we would want to try and follow for anyone helping a student who is in isolation on campus.

• Minnesota State system extends college, university closures

• Montana University System (As of March 23rd, all MUS campuses will, in every instance possible, transition all in-class instruction to online or other remote teaching modalities that do not require in-class presence)

• South Dakota System – making decisions as a system. This is an evolving situation and the SDBOR will revisit this situation and communicate any changes in course delivery again March 27. Beginning Monday, March 23, all classes will be temporarily moved online.

• Employees experiencing symptoms of illness, can and should, remain at home and are entitled to utilize available sick leave.  ​

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• Employees recommended to self-quarantine based upon a positive or presumptive exposure to someone infected with the corona virus or who have traveled to high risk areas resulting in official recommendations to self-quarantine should be allowed to use sick leave benefits for the quarantine period regardless of where the exposure occurred or the reason for the travel.

• Annual leave should be evaluated to determine its impact to agency business and staffing needs.  ​

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• Managers should deny leave requests that will or could present staff shortages or otherwise negatively impact the ability of the agency to serve its constituents.  ​

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• An employee’s travel plans associated with a leave request should be considered in evaluating a request and its impact on staffing and agency business. ​

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• Managers are expected to use good judgment in approving or denying annual leave requests, including revoking previously authorized leave, based upon the needs of the agency, the reasons for the request and the continually evolving nature of the COVID-19 situation. 

• There is pending federal legislation as part of the Families First Corona virus Response Act that will address expanded leave entitlement as a result of the COVID-19 situation.   ​

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• If you have any questions please contact HRMS or your legal counsel with the AG’s Office. 

Dual credit course arrangements are coordinated between the individual high school and the NDUS college or university offering the course.  If there are questions regarding dual credit courses for the spring semester, individuals should contact the local school to learn how the district and the college or university partner have determined to handle school closure.

All institutionally-sponsored international travel has been suspended. As of now, university-sponsored domestic travel has not been suspended, but all university-sponsored travel will receive ongoing regular assessment as this outbreak progresses. Whether you are traveling domestically for a university-sponsored program, or traveling anywhere for personal reasons, we ask you to thoughtfully take several things into consideration to protect yourselves and others around you.  These considerations are particularly important now as many of you have travel related plans over spring break.

1. 1. The risk of acquiring or inadvertently spreading infection increases substantially the more you are around other people. One of the key principles of mitigating serious communicable diseases is to practice social distancing, (i.e. avoiding events and situations that put us in close contact with many people). Travel frequently puts us in close contact with many people, such as in airplanes, airports, restaurants, and large events or gatherings.  Please consider if your travel is necessary, and if it could possibly be postponed or altogether canceled.
   2. People who are at higher risk of more severe outcomes from COVID-19 should strongly consider foregoing any travel. This would include people over the age of 60, or those with underlying chronic medical conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, chronic respiratory diseases, or immunosuppressive conditions.
   3. If you must travel, please try as much as possible to practice social distancing by avoiding large crowds and keeping space between you and others where people congregate.  Practice frequent hand-hygiene by washing hands with soap and water or using an alcohol-based product.
   4. If you do travel, once you return, please be vigilant for the development of any signs or symptoms of respiratory infection. If you develop any symptoms of fever, cough, or sore throat, please contact your medical provider as appropriate, and do not come to work or class until you have been evaluated and your symptoms have resolved.

Here are some other, valuable resources:

• North Dakota Department of Health

• John Hopkins Coronavirus Dashboard

• FERPA Guidance related to Covid-19

• Resources from WICHE

• Resources from SHEEO

• Gradually, Then Suddenly: Exponential Growth

• Curbing Exponential Growth