Important Travel Recommendations

Now that we are less than week away from the end of in-person classes for the fall semester, it is important to think about how you will protect yourself—and your friends and family—over the holidays and throughout the winter. Health experts are warning that Thanksgiving celebrations, coupled with people traveling from state to state, could cause a spike in COVID-19 infections. The Connecticut Department of Public Health is offering the following recommendations for University students who are traveling home for the holidays.

Safe Travel Recommendations

Students should plan on quarantining for 14 days before mingling or socializing with family and friends.

Get tested

Students should be tested before leaving school or immediately upon arriving home, quarantine for 14 days and then again at day seven of your quarantine if possible.

There are still spots for PCR tests on campus on Monday, Nov. 23. These are no cost to students. Employees who have not used their free employee test may also sign up. Please click here to select a slot.

Students who want or need a test this week can call Health Services at 860.768.6601 for the Binex Rapid Test and/or a PCR test. (Health Services is not open on the weekend.) The Binex Rapid Test is of no charge to our students. The PCR test $140.

Please note: the Binex Test is most valid on people who are symptomatic, and is only about 80% accurate for asymptomatic people. Also, this test will likely not meet travel requirements.

Physician One at 21 North Main Street in West Hartford offers PCR tests and rapid tests seven days a week. Call 860.236.3911 to make an appointment.

Cost and time to get results may vary based on location and type of test. Results can take up to seven days for PCR tests and prices typically range from $100­ to $150.

Quarantine

If you have family members at high risk of complications from COVID-19 (over the age of 60, with chronic medical conditions, etc.) consider completing your quarantine somewhere other than with those high-risk family members. Avoid large social gatherings or reunions, which pose a high risk for spreading COVID-19.

additional precautions

• Check travel restrictions for your destination before you go.
• Always wear a mask in public settings and on public transportation. If you are infected with COVID-19, have symptoms, or are within a mandatory quarantine period due to close contact with a known case, avoid public transportation if at all possible.
• Get your flu shot before you travel.
• Stay at least 6 feet away from anyone who is not in your household.
• Wash your hands often or use hand sanitizer.
• Avoid touching your mask, eyes, nose, and mouth.
• Bring extra supplies, such as masks and hand sanitizer.