Last Update : 11/4/2024
The safety of our students, employees and community members is our number one priority. We will continue to monitor local, state and national COVID-19 data and will adjust our protocols as needed.
Symptoms of COVID-19
- People with COVID-19 have a wide range of symptoms ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness.
- Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus.
- Symptoms may start as mild, and some people will progress to more severe symptoms.
Symptoms may change with new COVID-19 variants and can vary depending on vaccination status. Possible symptoms include, but are not limited to:
- Fever or chills
- Cough
- Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
- Sore throat
- Congestion or runny nose
- New loss of taste or smell
- Fatigue
- Muscle or body aches
- Headache
- Nausea or vomiting
- Diarrhea
Updated KCKCC COVID-19 and Respiratory Illness Protocol
Sick or Testing Positive? Stay Home!
- The CDC's first recommendation for anyone experiencing symptoms of a respiratory virus, such as COVID-19, is to stay home and away from others.
- You may return to normal activities when symptoms have improved overall for twenty-four (24) hours. If you experience a fever, delay returning to normal activities until your fever has been absent for at least twenty-four (24) hours without the use of fever-reducing medication (acetaminophen, ibuprofen, aspirin, etc.)
- Once you return to normal activities, you are encouraged to take precautions for the next five (5) days to curb the spread of illness.
- Precautions to take:
- You should wear a well-fitting mask
- You should get tested to inform your actions
- Keep your distance from others, especially those vulnerable to illness
- Enhance your hygiene practices, such as frequent hand-washing
- Improve air quality
This is especially important to protect people with factors that increase their risk of severe illness from respiratory viruses.
With or without symptoms, if you test positive for COVID-19, when you return to work at KCKCC, a mask is required for the following 5 days.
You may be contagious.
For the next five (5) days, take added precaution, such as taking additional steps for:
- cleaner air
- hygiene
- masks
- physical distancing
- and/or testing when you will be around other people indoors.
This is especially important to protect people with factors that increase their risk of severe illness from respiratory viruses.
With or without symptoms, if you test positive for COVID-19, when you return to work at KCKCC, a mask is required for the following 5 days.
Vaccinations
Getting a COVID-19 vaccine is a safer, more reliable way to build protection than getting sick with COVID-19. COVID-19 vaccination helps protect people by creating an immune response without the potentially severe illness or post-COVID conditions that can be associated with COVID-19 infection.
For more information, please visit the CDC's Benefits of Getting Vaccinated webpage.
Acquiring a COVID-19 Test
In September 2024, the federal COVID test kit program restarted! You may be still able to order free test kits to be mailed to your household at the Health and Human Services Department's COVID-19 webpage:covidtests.gov.
Free COVID home test kits are available for pick-up at:
Wyandotte County Public Health Department619 Ann Ave
Kansas City, KS 66101
Monday - Friday: 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Wyandotte County's COVID-19 Testing webpage
You can find multiple other options for free COVID-19 testing! Check the neighborhood clinic calendar below for locations near you, and search for no-cost COVID-19 testing near you through the CDC testing search tool.
Face Masks Welcomed
To continue to follow the CDC’s guidance based on COVID-19 community levels, masks are no longer required for everyone at any KCKCC location. However, the college respects the personal choice of those who continue to wear masks. If you test positive for COVID-19, you will need to wear a mask for the following 5 days.
Travel
Employees and students (vaccinated and unvaccinated) are allowed to participate in travel beyond the KC metro area for college business. Again, if you are sick, take the recommended precautions.
Preventing Spread of Respiratory Viruses When You Are Sick
What to know:
- Taking steps to prevent the spread of respiratory viruses when you are sick is a core prevention strategy to lower risk from respiratory viruses.
- Core prevention strategies are important steps you can take to protect yourself and others from respiratory viruses.
- Practices for residence hall students and student athletes remain unchanged.
Centennial Hall Students
If a student athlete has COVID-19 symptoms and the test is positive for the virus, the student athlete will be removed from team activities. They may return to team activities once they are symptom free.
Sick or Testing Positive? Stay Home!
Our number one priority is your health and safety as well as that of all students, employees and community members. Everyone must do their part to minimize the spread of the virus and its’ variants. Thank you for your diligence and cooperation.