Confirmed Cases and Exposures

August 30, 2021

We are writing to provide notification about two confirmed cases of COVID-19 among members of the College of the Canyons community.

In the first case, a student tested for COVID-19 on August 20 and received a negative result. The student attended class at the Valencia campus in ICUE on Aug. 23 and 24. The student received a positive test result for COVID-19 on Aug. 28 and notified the District on Aug. 29. The student will self-quarantine/isolate for the required period. Contact tracing showed that three individuals were exposed.

In the second case, an employee who works in Canyons Hall at the Valencia campus was exposed to COVID-19 off campus. The employee was last on campus Aug. 27. The employee received a positive test result for COVID-19 on Aug. 29 and notified the District on Aug. 30. The employee will self-quarantine/isolate for the required period. Contact tracing showed that one individual was exposed.

Those who were exposed and are unvaccinated will self-isolate for 10 days. Vaccinated individuals who were exposed are not required to self-isolate, however they should self-monitor for any COVID-19 symptoms.

As mentioned in earlier cases, we understand the desire to know more about these situations. However, we must balance the concern that we all have for our co-workers and students with privacy laws. With that in mind, we are not able to provide more detail that could identify these individuals.

As a reminder, please continue to self-monitor for COVID-19 symptoms each day before coming to campus. Do not enter campus if you are currently experiencing, or have in the past 14 days experienced:

Fever
Cough
Shortness of Breath or Difficulty Breathing
Fatigue
Chills
Congestion or runny nose
Sore throat
New loss of taste or smell
Gastrointestinal problems such as nausea, diarrhea or vomiting
Muscle or body aches
Headaches

If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, please contact our employee COVID-19 officer, Maria Calderon, at (661) 362-5563.

Free COVID-19 vaccinations are available in the Student Center atrium at the Valencia campus. Hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday and Thursday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday. Walk-ins are welcome. More information about vaccines can be found at myturn.ca.gov.

Free COVID-19 testing is available in Lot 7. The testing site is open 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday (closed Sunday). Appointments are required.

For more information about COVID-19, we encourage you to visit the CDC's Frequently Asked Questions page.

For details on resources available to college employees, contact our employee COVID-19 officer, Maria Calderon, at (661) 362-5563. She will help you with information about benefits available under federal, state, and local laws, such as workers’ compensation, as well as options for COVID-19 related leave, including district-offered sick leave, leave under collective bargaining provisions, and protections against retaliation and discrimination.

We appreciate everyone’s continued efforts to heed health and safety guidelines and do their part to protect the health of our college community.

– College of the Canyons Incident Command Team