Bay Area and Stanford COVID policy updates for graduate and professional students

You must follow these three levels of restricted activity whether you are newly arriving on campus, have been living on campus, or live off campus in the Bay Area. This is an update to the Dec. 9 message from vice provosts Brubaker-Cole and Bent.

The Bay Area’s 10-day Travel Quarantine

•  Graduate and professional students are required to quarantine for 10 days if they are arriving from travel of more than 150 miles away from Santa Clara County’s borders. Students will complete the travel quarantine in their assigned spaces, not in special isolation spaces. It is not possible to test out of the travel quarantine.
• You can leave your residence for twice weekly testing with Verily, for medical care and to pick-up meals if you have a Stanford Dining meal plan or if you have groceries or prepared food delivered. You cannot leave your residence for outdoor exercise and shopping in Palo Alto.
• The travel quarantine also applies to students living off campus. This means students who are living off campus should not come to campus during the travel quarantine period except to seek medical care and testing, and should not have non-essential visitors inside their residences.
• Note the travel quarantine is different from a medical quarantine due to exposure to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. If you are subject to a medical quarantine, Vaden Medical Services or your healthcare provider will advise you on the length of the quarantine.

Stanford’s 14-day period of restricted activity

• There will be no in-person gatherings of any size for all students during their first two weeks of winter quarter instruction, whether you are new to campus, returning to campus, never left campus, or live off campus.
• Essential visitors needed for medical or child care are permitted during this period. Student households may not meet during this period.
• Students who are not in travel or medical quarantine are allowed to access research facilities, libraries, or academic spaces if allowed by their department or program and in accordance with the Research Recovery guidelines.

The Bay Area Stay-at-Home Order

• This regional stay-at-home order is now in effect throughout the Bay Area at least through Jan. 7 and could be extended. The order reinforces many of the protective measures in place at Stanford and in the Bay Area.
• Note that the order prohibits private gatherings of any size with individuals outside of one’s household. You’ll find more information on Health Alerts.

Testing updates

• Please review this Dec. 15 message about winter quarter COVID testing.
• We have added a second site for Verily testing. We recommend Tresidder Memorial Union to undergraduates and McCaw Hall to graduate students, although both sites are open to all students as needed.