Health + Wellness

Communicable Disease Protocol (symptoms, positive test, and exposure)

A member of the campus community who develops symptoms, tests positive, or is in close contact with someone who has symptoms or tests positive for a communicable disease, including Covid, should adhere to the following protocols:

• Consult immediately with a medical provider and follow the directives of the medical provider. 
• Do not attend class/work and stay away from campus until cleared by a medical provider, or through CDC guidelines. 
• Notify instructor(s)/supervisor in advance of an absence.

The current CDC guidelines for Covid include:

• Close contact with someone who has tested positive for Covid:
  • Wear a mask for 10 days and test on day 5, but you are not required to quarantine. 
• Symptoms of Covid:
  • Test for Covid. If negative, wear a mask for 10 days. Test again after 5 days if symptoms persist. There is no quarantine/isolation requirement if you have a negative test.
• Positive Covid test result: 
  • Isolate for 5 days and wear a mask for 10 days.
  • If an on campus resident, please notify housing@kcai.edu.

With the exception of Covid, in the event a member of the community discloses testing positive and/or symptoms of a communicable disease to instructor(s) and/or a supervisor, adhere to the following protocols:

• If an employee - notify Human Resources at hr@kcai.edu
• If a student or student employee - notify Student Affairs at studentaffairs@kcai.edu
• Follow the directives provided by college officials. 

Epidemic/Pandemic and Communicable Disease Outbreak Response Plan

An epidemic is a disease that affects a large number of people within a community, population, or region. A pandemic is an epidemic that's spread over multiple countries or continents. 

An outbreak is a sudden rise in the number of cases of a communicable disease.

In the event of an epidemic/pandemic, or outbreak, KCAI will follow the directives listed below as informed by guidance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Kansas City Missouri Health Department. 

The Nerman Family President of KCAI will assign an Incident Commander (IC). This person is responsible for activating, assessing, and updating KCAI’s Communicable Disease and Epidemic/Pandemic and Outbreak Response Plan. The Incident Commander, as necessary, will select and assign personnel to perform the various functions of general staff (operations, planning, logistics and finance) and command staff (information, safety, and liaison). 

The Incident Commander will ensure that the administration is brought together and provided with the latest information and is responsible for coordinating the implementation of the following. 

● Increase disease surveillance according to CDC and local health department directives and identify appropriate protections, care for cases, testing, etc. 

● In collaboration with other KCAI staff, develop/send/post communications to inform the KCAI community about the threat, recommended preventative measures, and actions the college is taking to prepare for and combat an outbreak. 

● Determine the need for and procure Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), such as masks, antiviral wipes and sprays, etc. and plan for installation/distribution throughout campus. 

● Confirm community / public sites and access for testing, antiviral meds, vaccine, etc. 

● Work with appropriate college personnel to initiate directives from the CDC and/or local health department. Examples include, but are not limited to: