COVID Testing and Monitoring

Our goal is to have all community members, students, faculty, and staff, tested as they return to campus to establish a common baseline. Prompt identification and isolation of positive individuals and their contacts is necessary to ensure the health and safety of the Pratt community, and constant monitoring of symptoms using a variety of validated scientific methods is important. Additionally, those who become symptomatic on campus will be assisted in obtaining an appropriate evaluation and diagnostic testing. Pratt has partnered with local health care providers in both Brooklyn and Manhattan to assist community members who need assistance in obtaining a COVID-19 diagnostic test.

How to get a test

• Students, faculty and staff in need of diagnostic COVID-19 testing in NYC may visit a free testing site. Free testing is also available in New Jersey and other states. 

• Students, faculty and staff may also contact MedRite to schedule an appointment. MedRite has locations near our Brooklyn and Manhattan campuses. When visiting a MedRite please show your Pratt ID and insurance card so that the results will be processed by Aegis Laboratories.

• You may also visit your personal healthcare provider for a test.

  Please note: A diagnostic test is used to determine if an individual is currently infected, whereas the antibody test is used to detect antibodies to COVID-19 from prior infection. So please be sure to request a diagnostic test.

When to get a test

• Diagnostic COVID-19 testing must have been completed within 7 days prior to returning to campus to ensure results are accurate and timely. 

• Please be aware that your first time on campus cannot be more than seven days after the day you were tested for COVID.

• It would be optimal for students, faculty, and staff to submit a negative COVID-19 test result within 4 days post specimen collection. However based on the current delay in regional and national turnaround times, Pratt has re-evaluated this requirement and increased it to allow community members to submit results within 7 days post collection. 

• Pratt will continue to assess and monitor this situation. Should testing turnaround time improve in the near future, Pratt will consider moving back to the 4-day requirement.   

How to submit your results

• Your submitted results must meet the following criteria: Results should clearly indicate the testing date, the type of test taken, your name, and the result.

• Please note: This is not an automated process. A staff member reviews and approves each submission. It can take more than 24 hours to process.

• Students should upload COVID-19 diagnostic testing results directly to the Pratt health forms site.

• Faculty and staff should upload COVID-19 diagnostic testing results to Human Resources.

• Those individuals who have been determined to be positive for COVID-19 should contact Pratt Health Services for students and Human Resources for faculty and staff, via telephone or email. Necessary guidance for safely returning to campus and determining the potential need for contact tracing will be provided. 

• Please note that this process may change. Check this page for updates before submitting your results.

As all data is considered privileged healthcare data, all precautions have been taken to ensure HIPAA compliance.

Community members at Pratt will be asked to screen themselves daily before coming to campus. As part of the social contract, all students, faculty, and staff will be required to abide by the following protocol: 

• Ill students, facility, and staff must not come to campus.

• Students, faculty, and staff returning to campus who are returning to class and work must complete an electronic daily health screening questionnaire daily, using the PrattSafe app and be sure to follow the guidance provided.

• On the PrattSafe app:

  • Click on “Returning to Campus During COVID” in the banner at the top of the home screen.

    

  • From this screen, choose to complete the appropriate COVID-19 self-assessments, for either faculty and staff or for students.

    In the self-assessment, you will be asked to provide your name, telephone number, email address, and consent. There will then be a series of questions that require a  “Yes” or “No” response.

    After completing these questions, review and confirm your responses and submit the questionnaire.  

  •  

    Digital Self-Assessment Badge

  • You will either be approved to come to campus or advised that you are not authorized to come to campus and must follow up with a healthcare provider.  

    Student responses will be sent directly to Pratt Health Services, and faculty and staff responses will be sent to Human Resources. As all data is considered privileged healthcare data, all precautions have been taken to ensure HIPAA compliance.

• The PrattSafe DSM can be completed as early as 4 hours prior to arrival on campus.

• Students, faculty, and staff must be free of ANY symptoms potentially related to COVID-19 or have had evaluation and clearance by their personal healthcare provider, Pratt Health Services for students, and Human Resources for faculty and staff to be eligible to report to class or work.

• Symptom screening questions reflect current CDC guidelines and are updated accordingly.

• Report to class or work only if you are without symptoms and the PrattSafe app indicates you are approved to come to campus.

• Remember to follow all social contract requirements both on and off campus.

In the event you are symptomatic, believe you have been exposed to covid or otherwise ill, please do not come to campus, but rather take the following actions:

• Stay home. Students should contact Pratt Health Services and notify their instructors

• Faculty and staff should notify their immediate supervisor, along with Human Resources.

• Faculty and staff should contact their local health provider or urgent care. 

• Students should contact Pratt Health Service during office hours. After hours and on weekends, students should seek care with a local urgent care or healthcare provider. Students will be required to follow up with Pratt Health Services during regular office hours.  

• Continue to wear a cloth facial covering, wash hands frequently, cover your coughs and sneezes, and self-isolate safely to avoid possible virus transmission to others.

• Students should keep Pratt Health Services informed as to their situation and prognosis.

• Students should discuss any absence with their instructors in accordance with our attendance policy

• Employees should keep their supervisor and Human Resources informed of their situation.

• Return to class or work only after you have been medically cleared to do so.

In response to the continued management and mitigation of COVID-19 at Pratt Institute, temperature screenings will take place for all students, faculty, staff, and visitors upon entering campus. Temperature screenings have been embedded into Pratt’s health and wellness check protocol, which has been implemented to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Community members and visitors may experience a line or queue at the main entrance of either campus, where signage indicates a required temperature screening using an infrared thermometer. Medical assistants, along with Pratt Public Safety, will be stationed to take temperatures. Visit the campus access page to find the entry locations with temperature screening stations.

Individuals screened with a temperature at or above 100.4º F will not be admitted onto campus. Students with a temperature at or above 100.4º will be referred to Pratt Health Services. Faculty and staff will be referred to their primary healthcare provider. Pratt’s temperature screening protocol will help identify and prevent potential illness from COVID-19, keeping students, faculty, staff, and visitors safe from contracting the virus.  

Please note temperature screening data is not stored or maintained by Pratt Institute. Once the screening process has been completed, it is automatically deleted and not retained in any system or database to ensure HIPAA compliance.