Frequently Asked Questions

All Washington residents age 6 months and up are now eligible to be vaccinated at no cost. Appointments available at UW Medicine and many other providers. Learn more.

If you are sick with any potential illness, you must stay home.

The most common symptoms of COVID-19 infection are fever, cough and shortness of breath. The CDC also maintains a list of possible COVID-19 symptoms that you should review. If you have symptoms of COVID-19, you need to take additional steps to take care of yourself and protect your loved ones:

1. Contact your healthcare provider and ask if you should be tested for COVID-19. UW Tacoma students can also contact Franciscan Prompt Care at St. Joseph. To protect the health of others, do NOT visit a doctor’s office, urgent care clinic or other health facility unless you’ve talked with them in advance about possibly having COVID-19.
2. Notify the COVID-19 Response & Prevention Team: covidehc@uw.edu or 206-616-3344 as soon as your healthcare provider confirms or suspects COVID-19.
3. Follow public health guidelines to help you recover and protect loved ones from getting sick. These actions include staying home and physically separate from anyone who lives with you, wearing a face covering if you have to be around people, and being stringent about hygiene. You can learn more from Tacoma-Pierce County Public Health and the Washington State Department of Health.

This is can be a stressful, difficult time for everyone. You don’t have to go through it alone.

Students can access support through Psychological & Wellness Services at UW Tacoma.

UW employees can access support through CareLink.

Washington residents can also call or text Washington Listens at 1-833-681-0211, M–F from 9 a.m.–9 p.m. and weekends from 9 a.m.–6 p.m. Language access services are available, and TTY can be accessed by dialing 7-1-1 or preferred method.

You can help stop the spread of COVID-19 by getting vaccinated and following public health guidelines.

Additionally, you can protect yourself and your community by opting in to receive notifications of potential COVID-19 exposures on your smartphone through the Washington Exposure Notifications – WA Notify app.

The Husky Coronavirus Testing program, a voluntary research study has self-test kits available. You can pick up or drop off kits at the Testing Desk on the ground floor of TPS. During Autumn Quarter 2022, the desk is open:

• M/W/F: 11am - 3 pm
• T/Th: 9 am - 12:30 pm

If you are not already enrolled in the testing program, you can enroll online.

Other Testing Options

Students, faculty and staff can request free COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Testing Kits they can pick up at The Pantry (Dougan 104) and at West Coast Grocery Convenience Store (WCG 102).

In addition, Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department offer free COVID-19 testing for anyone. Most pharmacy and urgent care clinics also offer testing.

We depend on people to report when they have confirmed or suspected COVID-19. Peoples’ identities are closely protected and disclosed only on a need-to-know basis, such as a public health response, HR actions, and unit management. Once we receive someone’s report, we take the following steps to protect the health and safety of our campus communities:

1. We document the person’s symptoms, where they’ve spent time on campus recently and any close contacts, such as anyone who was within 6 feet of the person for a cumulative total of at least 15 minutes during a 24-hour period (even if both people wore masks).
2. We conduct a risk assessment, which helps us decide on a specific action plan. Our actions may include any or all of the following:
   • We help the person understand how to take care of themselves and others by staying home and physically apart from other people.
   • If needed, we notify the person’s academic and/or work unit and provide information about actions that will be taken to prevent the virus’s spread.
   • We notify people who were in close contact with the person as far back as 48 hours before they developed symptoms.
   • If the person spent time on campus recently, we evaluate and coordinate enhanced cleaning and disinfection of those areas following CDC guidelines.
   • If the person spent time in a work space on campus recently, we notify coworkers and others who have also been in that space and share information about steps we’re taking to prevent the virus’s spread.

More information about how the UW responds to cases of COVID-19 in the University community is available from UW Environmental Health & Safety.

There is a great page of resources and tips published by UW Tacoma's Digital Learning office:

Student Online Support