FAQs about COVID-19

Before spring semester begins, students planning to live, work or take classes on campus, or utilize campus facilities such as libraries, fitness/recreation or dining halls, must complete a precautionary quarantine starting seven days prior to their return to campus. Before arriving on campus, students must affirm via HUB attestation that they have done so. 

Per the SUNY mandate, limited exemptions to this precautionary quarantine requirement will be made for the following students:

• Students within the Medical school or other health profession or in a related professional discipline in the health field who have been deemed essential by NYS are exempt from the 7-day quarantine requirement. This includes student-trainees in medicine, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, athletic training, dietetics, social work, psychology, counseling and audiology. The essential status of these students serves as an exemption to the 7-day quarantine. Essential students do not need to take any individual action to apply for this exemption. This exemption will be coordinated by UB administration.
• Students who live off-campus and are employed on or off campus and who will be on campus to attend class or use on campus services can have a limited exemption due to their employment status. During the 7 days prior to returning to campus, these students must quarantine when they are not at work. The individual student is granted this limited work exemption by submitting a copy of their employer’s COVID-19 safety protocol to UB via email to covidsafetyprotocol@buffalo.edu. Students must include their name and UB person number in the body of the email message.

Per SUNY policy, some undergraduate, graduate and professional students are required to be tested prior to returning for the spring semester. UB will provide testing for those students not able to obtain testing on their own prior to returning to the campus. 

The following groups of students are required to be tested by UB or other means prior to returning for spring semester:

• Resident students.
• Students who are taking one or more classes with an in-person component.
• Students who use on-campus services such as dining, libraries or fitness facilities.
• Student employees who work on campus.

All students who will be living on campus, taking classes on campus or coming to campus to participate in activities or utilize services must either present evidence of a negative COVID-19 test taken within three days prior to their return or participate in on-campus testing as soon as possible but no later than five days after returning to campus. Students who present documentation of a positive diagnostic test within the previous three months are exempt from return-to-campus testing.

Starting two weeks before their planned return to campus, all students, faculty and staff must complete a daily screening via the Daily Health Check to evaluate for travel history, COVID-19 history and COVID-19 symptoms.

Students will also be required to continue completing the Daily Health Check throughout winter session and the spring semester if they live on campus, take one or more classes with an on-campus component, work on campus or use on-campus services such as dining, libraries or fitness facilities. Faculty and staff who plan to be on campus are also required to complete the Daily Health Check but only on those specific days.