Mizzou will require students and faculty to report symptoms daily using new app
The University of Missouri in Columbia has announced new policies to help prevent the spread of coronavirus as students begin returning to campus for the fall semester.
Use of a required health app is among the new rules that go into effect Monday, according to a news release signed by President Mun Y. Choi and Provost Latha Ramchand.
Though students, faculty and staff are already required to complete a symptom and temperature checklist each day, the new app, called #CampusClear, will help streamline this process once it’s launched, university officials said.
Each time the screening is completed through the app, the individual will be notified whether they’re approved to come on campus that day or not, according to the news release.
The app will double as a pass to let students, faculty and staff onto certain locations on campus, though those particular areas had not yet been determined as of Monday.
If a student, faculty or staff member tests positive for the coronavirus, they are required to notify the university.
If a student tests positive, they are required to contact the student health center within four hours of receiving the test results. They must also notify their professors that they won’t be able to attend class in person within that same time frame.
Members of the Mizzou community must also keep their gatherings small.
Faculty, staff and students cannot host or participate in events either on or off campus with more than 20 people for more than 15 minutes without explicit permission, according to the release. Classrooms are exempt.
Boone County, where the University of Missouri is located, currently restricts gatherings to 100 people.
For the most part, outside groups will not be allowed to hold events on campus. One exception to this will be the election, when the campus serves as a polling location in November, university officials said.
Face masks continue to be required for all indoor and outdoor events where six feet of social distancing can’t be maintained.
