11/9/2020 - New COVID-19 case reported to Caltech

From: Jennifer Howes, Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs and Wellness
Re: New COVID-19 case reported to Caltech

In the last 24 hours, Student Wellness Services (SWS) was informed that an employee at the Children's Center at Caltech (CCC) has tested positive for COVID-19, amounting to eight total reported positive cases at that facility since July. SWS is consulting with the Pasadena Public Health Department (PPHD) about questions of community transmission, and to determine whether any of the cases at CCC have been connected; the Institute has no evidence otherwise of there being spread of the COVID-19 within the Caltech community. At this time, it's not believed that this new case will have any additional impact or changes to the facility's current operations.

This employee, who was last on campus on October 23, 2020, is now isolating at home. In coordination with the Pasadena Public Health Department (PPHD), SWS will identify and notify anyone in the campus community who may have had close contact with this employee. If individuals are found to be at risk of exposure, they will be provided specific instructions for quarantining and self-monitoring.

This brings the total number of reported COVID-19 cases among the Caltech community and off-campus Caltech facilities to 31. Every individual's health information is confidential and we ask all members of the community to be respectful of those privacy rights.

Please remember that we must all continue do our part to mitigate the spread of COVID-19:

• Stay home if you are ill or have a fever;
• Use the Caltech COVID-19 Reporting application on the days you are scheduled to be on site;
• Wear a cloth face covering; and
• Maintain appropriate physical distance from others on campus.

More information about Caltech's response to the pandemic can be found on the Caltech coronavirus webpage. Reports of illness, testing metrics, and confirmed case counts can be found on a dedicated dashboard that is updated by 2 p.m. PDT each weekday. Please note that JPL tracks COVID-19 cases separately and is not included in these data.