This update is provided for archival purposes only.

Public Health guidance and University of Waterloo operations may have changed. For the most up-to-date information, please visit our COVID-19 frequently asked questions.

Protocol for individual disclosures of COVID-19

Wednesday, September 2, 2020

The message provided here contains historical information and is no longer updated. Please refer to our Health Protocols page for the most up-to-date information on our process for handling student and employee disclosures of COVID-19 infection.

A version of this message was originally sent to employees by Kate Windsor, Director of Safety, on April 7, 2020. The message below contains update from April 8, 2020 and September 2, 2020.

This message updates the guidance concerning the actions you can take if someone tells you that that they believe they are suffering from COVID-19.

Previous updates

September 2

  • We are updating our contact tracing and communication procedure to align with new government regulations. If instructed to do so by public health bodies, the University will post notices of positive COVID-19 cases on our website, social media channels, and Daily Bulletin publication and newsletter, while maintaining individual health privacy.

April 8

  • We have clarified steps for employee disclosure, including the removal of the need to collect information about employee interactions with public health
  • We are clarifying that this process is for COVID-19 declarations only. Managers can refer to the manager’s tool kit when dealing with absences for other reasons.
  • We are confirming that Occupational health will follow up with the employee in the case of every COVID-19 disclosure.
  • We are clarifying that you cannot legally tell others – including employees, members of your team, or students - about any disclosure, except the identified people in this protocol.

The following protocols – for student disclosure and employee disclosure – protect the privacy of individual Personal Health Information (PHI) and adhere to all applicable health and privacy legislation.

Step-by-step guide of how to navigate student COVID-19 disclosure

  • Record the student's full name and updated contact information.
  • Determine whether the student has contacted their local health authority for medical support
    • IF THEY HAVE NOT: Advise the student to contact their local health authority if they have travelled outside of Canada, had contact with a recent traveller (returned in the last 14 days) or close contact with a confirmed or probable case of COVID-19. Otherwise, advise the student to contact their health care provider. Waterloo’s COVID-19 information page lists the numbers for Telehealth Ontario and health agencies in Waterloo.
    • IF THEY HAVE: Record the name of the health authority helping the student and the date of disclosure.
  • Tell the student that you will inform the University’s Medical Director and Associate Provost, Students about the situation and that these people may follow up directly. Students can expect questions about how long they have had symptoms or if they visited parts of campus while feeling ill.
  • Email the information you have gathered to:
    • Medical Director – Clark Baldwin
    • Associate Provost, Students – Chris Read

Step-by-step guide of how to navigate employee COVID-19 disclosure

  • Record the employee’s full name and current contact information.

  • Inform the employee that you will notify Occupational Health about the situation and that Occupational Health will contact them for follow up.

  • Email Occupational Health with the information you have gathered.

  • Advise the employee to contact their health care provider. If they do not have one, they can contact Telehealth Ontario.

  • If the employee:

    • has travelled outside of Canada,

    • had contact with a recent traveller (returned in the last 14 days) or

    • had close contact with a confirmed or probable case of COVID-19,
    they MUST contact their local public health authority. The quick links on the Coronavirus Information home page list the numbers for Telehealth Ontario and health agencies in Waterloo.

Important: you cannot legally tell unapproved contacts about disclosures

All Disclosure

You cannot legally tell others—including employees, members of your team, or students—about the disclosure. 

In using either of the above protocols, you should not give medical advice – please ensure that individuals know they should be seeking appropriate medical help.

You must not pass personal health information to anyone beyond the identified contacts in each protocol. Specifically, you should not send any personal health information to anyone except:

  • Medical Director, or
  • Associate Provost, Students, or
  • Occupational Health.

Personal health information includes ANY identifiable information about the individual or information that would tend to identify the individual.

University personnel will take advice from appropriate public health bodies on the approach to contact tracing and communication on a case-by-case basis. While maintaining the individual’s health privacy, we will act on public health unit instruction to post notices of positive COVID-19 results:

  • On our COVID-19 information website
  • On Twitter and Facebook from main UWaterloo channels
  • In the Daily Bulletin (a daily email/online publication intended for University of Waterloo audiences)

Employee Disclosure

Please protect the privacy of individuals by only sharing the employee’s name and contact information with Occupational Health. No other party inside or outside of the University is entitled to this information

Occupational Health stores all personal health information (PHI) confidentially as per privacy legislation and cannot release any PHI without the employee’s written consent.