Since the COVID-19 vaccine has become widely available and positive cases have been low on campus, UAB has decided to relax some of the measures taken to curb spread of the virus.
On April 15, an email was sent to the UAB community that said the Healthcheck that has been required for the academic year will no longer be required for many after May 10. Only certain UAB students, faculty and staff will be required to complete the Healthcheck.
“Students, faculty and staff who are considered health care personnel or have a touchpoint in a clinical building or setting will be required to complete Healthcheck daily until further notice,” the email said.
This includes Workgroup C, health system employees, students working in clinical settings, as well as members of the schools of optometry, nursing, dentistry and medicine.
Students who are not required to complete the Healthcheck can still report symptoms through the patient portal.
UAB has also made the decision to end sentinel testing effective April 22.
Dr. Suzanne Judd, a professor in the School of Public Health, said in an update this decision was made with the advice of experts on campus and across the country.
“With cases being as low as they currently are, there’s not the need for aggressive sentinel testing like we have been doing,” said Judd.
The numbers currently displayed on the UA system COVID dashboard show 0.14% of the 1,451 people tested under sentinel testing on the week of April 9 at UAB tested positive.
In addition to relaxing the Healthcheck and sentinel testing, classes will no longer take on hybrid or remote forms for the upcoming summer and fall semesters. On-campus students will only be required to maintain a three-foot distance beginning May 10.
Travel requirements have also been eased, with domestic travel being allowed starting August 1. So far, international travel restrictions have not been eased.
The state mask mandate ended on April 9, but Birmingham is still requiring them until at least May 24. UAB has stated masks could still be required beyond the summer semester.
