Coronavirus Information

2021-2022 Health and Safety Protocols

Campus Operations

• The campus is open to the public. This includes the cafeteria, the bookstore, library, etc. Visitors are welcome to attend our campus events.
• All classes will be delivered in person. Section sizes will be normal. Classrooms are configured with approximately 3 feet of distancing between seats. To assist with seating, faculty members may consider seating assignments, group partner assignments, and lab partner assignments.
• Chapel worship will resume in its regular fashion with in-person worship. Morning chapel will be at 10:30 am for students, faculty, staff, and visitors, and evening chapel will be at 7:15 pm for students and visitors.
• The MLC dormitories will return to standard operations, including open dorm hours.

Health Monitoring and Testing

• We encourage you to self-monitor daily, taking into consideration your vaccination status. The MDH Decision Tree may be used as a resource.
• Faculty, staff, and students should fill out the COVID Contact Me Form if you meet any of the following conditions:
  • If you have symptoms – regardless of vaccination status.
  • If you tested positive – regardless of vaccination status.
  • If you are awaiting your own test results – regardless of vaccination status.
  • If you are awaiting the test results of a household member and you are not fully vaccinated or you have not had a confirmed positive COVID-19 test within the last 90 days.
  • If you have been identified as a close contact, and you are not fully vaccinated or have not had a confirmed positive COVID-19 test within the last 90 days.
• MLC has designated space for isolation and quarantine for students.
• Symptomatic students may be eligible for on-site rapid antigen nasal swab testing with the Campus Nurse with results within 15 minutes. These tests are reported to the state, and can be administered to individuals at least 2 years of age. Currently, these tests are at no cost.
• Click this link to view the scenario chart.
• If you test positive for COVID, regardless of vaccination status, you will need to isolate yourself for 5 days. If you have no symptoms, or your symptoms are resolving after 5 days, you can leave isolation but must continue to mask around others for an additional 5 days. If you have symptoms or fever after 5 days, continue to isolate and stay away from others until your symptoms improve and your fever resolves for 24 hours without fever-reducing medicine. 
• If you are a close contact of a positive case who is a household member (roommate), or a person you spend a great deal of time with, and are not fully vaccinated, not boosted, more than 6 months out from two dose vaccination series, more than 2 months out from one dose vaccination series, or have not had a confirmed positive COVID-19 test within the last 90 days, you will need to quarantine for 5 days from last exposure, followed by an additional 5 days of mask usage.
• If you are a close contact of a positive case who is a non-household member, or a household member (roommate) and you are fully vaccinated and boosted, or have had a confirmed positive COVID-19 test within the last 90 days, the COVID team will notify you and advise that while you do not need to quarantine, you should symptom monitor for 10 days. 
• Students who are excused for quarantine or isolation purposes can expect the professors to accommodate their absence through educational formats that will meet curriculum standards.

Masking

• Masking is recommended by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) regardless of vaccination status, but under the current regulations, MLC is not requiring masking for students or employees.
• Anyone on campus is welcome to wear a mask for their own protection at their discretion.
• To comply with federal requirements, masking is required on school buses (public and private) since buses are considered “public transportation.”
• To comply with Allina Medical requirements for healthcare environments, masking is required in the Athletic Training Room.

Vaccinations

• Vaccination for those 5 and over is recommended by the CDC and MDH through your healthcare provider, your pharmacy, or the county.
• Vaccinations are not a requirement for students to attend MLC or for MLC employees.
• Brown County Public Health (BCPH) has a vaccination clinic every Thursday from 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Vaccination is free and all three vaccine products are available. BCPH is located just down Center Street hill, within walking distance, at 1117 Center Street.

General Health and Safety Guidelines

• The CDC and MDH recommend social distancing.
• Anyone on campus is welcome to practice their own social distancing for their own protection at their discretion.
• MLC encourages continued hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette. Hand sanitizers will be readily available across campus.
• MLC will continue to operate our HVAC systems at full capacity to allow for frequent air exchange.
• MLC will continue to operate the air filtration units in the MLC Fitness Center and the Chapel of the Christ.
• The Custodial Department will follow standard cleaning and disinfecting protocols.
• MLC will continue to monitor the state and federal requirements. We ask for your flexibility and understanding as we may need to change our plans to comply with these requirements.

Early Childhood Learning Center Operations

On January 11, 2022, the Department of Human Services updated the isolation and quarantine licensing requirements for childcare and aligned with the new CDC shortened isolation and quarantine. 

DHS now indicates that childcare close contacts (workers and children) do not need to quarantine, however, CDC, MDH, and Brown County Public Health strongly still recommend quarantine for close contacts. MLC has been operating under the requirements listed below for positive individuals and close contacts, and the ECLC Committee has adopted these same requirements for ECLC with the addition of a negative test on day 5 for household close contacts.

• Parents or guardians of currently enrolled ECLC children are encouraged to self-monitor children and other members of their household daily, and utilize the MDH Decision Tree as a resource.
  • More common symptoms: fever of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or higher; new cough or a cough that gets worse; difficulty/hard time breathing; new loss of taste or smell. 
  • Less common symptoms: sore throat; nausea; vomiting; diarrhea; chills; muscle pain; extreme fatigue/feeling very tired; new severe/very bad headache; new nasal congestion/stuffy or runny nose.
• ECLC children and employees who are experiencing symptoms, awaiting test results, or will be absent for the day, should report this to the Lead Teacher and the ECLC Office.
• ECLC will follow the MDH Decision Tree, and may exclude any individual (child or worker) experiencing symptoms as the MDH Decision Tree indicates.
  • When a person has one “less common” symptom, if the person is well enough to remain in care, they may, but should watch for new or worsening symptoms. If the person is not well enough to remain in care, the individual should be sent home and testing for COVID is strongly encouraged, especially if the symptom persists, worsens or additional symptoms develop.
  • When a person has one “more common“ or two or more “less common“ symptoms, the symptomatic individual should be sent home, tested for COVID, or evaluated by a health care provider.
  • If the individual with one “more common” or two or more “less common” symptoms chooses to not seek testing or does not see a health care provider, the individual is presumed positive and automatically includes isolation.
  • While waiting for a test result, other members in the household should defer to the MDH Decision Tree, their employer(s), or individual school requirements for what to do when waiting for a household members’ test result.
  • If an alternative diagnosis is determined by a health care provider or a confirmed qualified negative COVID test is received, the symptomatic person cannot return to activity until 24-hours after symptoms have improved and no fever/pain-reducing medicine for 24-hours.
• Click this link to view the scenario chart.
• The isolation period for a positive individual, regardless of vaccination status, is5 days. If you have no symptoms, or your symptoms are resolving after 5 days, you can leave isolation but must continue to mask around others for an additional 5 days. If you have symptoms or fever after 5 days, continue to isolate and stay away from others until your symptoms improve and your fever resolves for 24 hours without fever-reducing medicine. For the individual who is experiencing symptoms and tests positive, the infectious date is two days prior to symptoms.
  • Per MDH, children under age 2 should not wear a mask. The child must be able to properly remove and don the mask when eating and sleeping. Our teachers will do their best to assist children with masking and please send extra masks along for your child to use in the event the masks become unusable (i.e. wet, soiled). For this reason, isolated individuals who are 2 years or younger, will need to isolate for the full 10-days.
• If the individual is asymptomatic (i.e. has no symptoms) and tests positive, the isolation period is 5-days from the date of the test. For the individual who is not experiencing symptoms and tests positive, the infectious date is two days prior to the date of the test.
• A close contact is anyone that had close contact with the confirmed positive individual between the infectious date and most recent date at closer than 6-feet, for greater than 15-minutes in a 24-hour period.
• ECLC will continue to work with the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), and Brown County Public Health (BCPH) regarding contact tracing. ECLC will notify you by email if your child has been identified as a close contact along with the exposure date(s). While quarantine is not required for non-household close contacts, we do encourage the close contact to symptom monitor for 10-days.
• Close contacts of a positive case of a household member, and if not fully vaccinated, not boosted, more than 6 months out from two dose vaccination series, more than 2 months out from one dose vaccination series, or has not had a confirmed positive COVID-19 test in the last 90 days, will require the close contact to quarantine for 5-days from last exposure, test on day 5, followed by an additional 5-days of mask usage. Provide day 5 negative test results to ECLC before returning on Day 6.
  • Per MDH, children under age 2 should not wear a mask. The child must be able to properly remove and don the mask when eating and sleeping. Our teachers will do their best to assist children with masking and please send extra masks along for your child to use in the event the masks become unusable (i.e. wet, soiled). For this reason, quarantined individuals who are 2 years or younger, will need to quarantine for the full 10-days. 
  • Testing on Day 5 can be any type of COVID test (at-home, administered by a health care provider). As long as the test is negative, the individual will be able to return on Day 6. If you are having difficulty obtaining a test, please contact our Campus Nurse at 507-233-9101. Individuals may be eligible for on-site rapid antigen nasal swab testing with the Campus Nurse with results within 15 minutes. These tests are reported to the state, and can be administered to individuals at least 2 years of age. Currently, these tests are at no cost.
• The MLC Early Childhood Learning Center (ECLC) is not requiring masks for children, student teachers, or employees.
• Parents or guardians of currently enrolled ECLC children whose child is at least age 2, and desire for their child to wear a mask, may send a mask along for the child to wear. The child must be able to properly remove and don the mask when eating and sleeping. Our teachers will do their best to assist children with masking.
• Vaccinations are not a requirement for students to attend MLC or for MLC employees.
• ECLC continues to follow MDH and Licensing regulations regarding hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette.
• ECLC continues to follow Licensing regulations regarding daily disinfecting and cleaning of toys and surfaces.
• MLC will continue to operate our ECLC HVAC systems at full capacity to allow for frequent air exchange.
• MLC will continue to operate the air filtration units in the ECLC.
• The Custodial Department will follow standard cleaning and disinfecting protocols.
• MLC will continue to monitor the state and federal requirements. We ask for your flexibility and understanding as we may need to change our plans to comply with these requirements.

Resources

• CDC COVID-19 webpage concerning guidelines and recommendations during this global pandemic.
  • CDC – Quarantine vs. Isolation
  • CDC – Isolation Details
  • CDC – Quarantine Details
  • CDC – Caring for Someone Who is Sick
• MDH COVID-19 webpage concerning guidelines and recommendations during this global pandemic.
  • ​MDH – Decision Tree for Schools
  • MDH – What to do when waiting for results
  • MDH – Minnesota testing locations
  • MDH – What to do if you have COVID-19
  • MDH – Information for Confirmed Cases and Contacts
  • MDH – What to do if you have had close contact with a person with COVID-19
  • MDH – Close contact guidance
  • MDH – Guidance for those who are sick or caring for someone who is sick
• MLC COVID-19 Contact Me Form
• MLC Scenario Chart
• Temporary Telecommuting Request Form

Scenario Chart