Testing and Tracing

Please stay in your residence hall room/apartment/home, and do not go to class. 

Call Berklee’s Tufts Medical Center team for further instructions until your test results return:

• Between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.: Call 617-747-2019, and choose option 2.
• After business hours: Call Public Safety at 617-747-2682 to be connected with the on-call team. 

Do not report to work or come to campus. 

Complete these two steps in any order; feel free to contact Human Resources first for guidance about your benefits before contacting your provider.

• Contact your primary care physician to report your symptoms and obtain medical guidance.
• Contact a member of the benefits team in Human Resources at benefits@berklee.edu for resources, support, and appropriate clearance to return to work once your physician provides approval to resume activities and work.

Berklee will follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance related to positive test results and the 90-day period following those test results. Therefore, if you have previously tested positive, you will not be included in the testing protocol and testing schedule for a period of 90 days after your initial COVID-19 diagnosis. Berklee will remove you from testing requirements until the 90-day post-diagnosis period is complete. Scientific research indicates that individuals will likely continue to test positive for a period of 90 days post-diagnosis, despite the fact that they are no longer infectious. After 90 days following a COVID-19 diagnosis, you will be included in the required testing protocols.  

If you tested positive within 90 days of arriving to campus and are subsequently safe to resume interactions with others as indicated by a treating physician, you must bring evidence of the COVID-19 diagnosis that indicates the date you were diagnosed and when you were cleared to safely resume activities and interactions before reporting to campus for work or classes.

• Faculty and staff: Submit documentation to Human Resources at hremployeerelations@berklee.edu.
• Students: Submit documentation to Health and Wellness at healthandwellness@berklee.edu. 

During the 90-day post-diagnosis period, continue to monitor your health and wellness, and if at any time you exhibit COVID-19 symptoms, contact the Tufts Medical Team or consult with your primary care physician, who can assess your condition and discuss appropriate next steps.

You should continue to get tested at your normal testing cadence.

Once fully vaccinated, you are still expected to comply with all Berklee health and safety protocols, including (but not limited to) testing, daily symptom reporting, and mask-wearing. 

Per the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) guidelines, even if you are vaccinated, you must quarantine if you are identified as a close contact of someone who tests positive. You also must continue to follow the Massachusetts travel guidelines. 

While the CDC guidelines state that vaccinated people do not need to quarantine, Berklee follows the stricter Massachusetts DPH guidelines, which do require vaccinated people to quarantine. Berklee follows CDC recommendations except in cases where the state of Massachusetts has stricter policies; in those situations, Berklee adheres to the more rigorous Massachusetts guidelines.

Berklee continues to monitor the CDC’s and the Massachusetts DPH’s recommendations and will adapt this policy as necessary. 

If you have not yet gotten the COVID-19 vaccine, we strongly encourage you to get it as soon as you are eligible. You can find more details on the state’s website about the rollout of the vaccine in Massachusetts, when you will be eligible, and how to schedule an appointment.

Berklee has implemented a testing system that aligns with local and federal guidelines, as well as the requirements of Tufts Medical Center, our healthcare partner. Berklee has partnered with Tufts Medical Center, whose infectious disease program is among the top in the country, to manage the clinical aspects of our testing center and protocols. The Tufts team managing our testing center successfully implemented the same set-up and workflow at Tufts University’s main campus and Boston campus, as well as Emerson’s campus down the street from Berklee, where they collectively serve more than 16,000 individuals. There have been no cases of testers developing COVID-19 through the testing sites.

The Berklee testing center site and operations were surveyed and reviewed by the Infection Prevention team at Tufts, and were approved as meeting health and safety standards. Here are several key components of those protocols:

• Ventilation: The air exchange rate in the testing center already exceeds the required rate of exchange; as an additional precaution for our community, we have added HEPA filtration units throughout the center.
• Cleaning: The facility is cleaned multiple times a day, with surfaces being disinfected at regular intervals, and a deep cleaning is done at the end of each day. 
• Testing process: Testers move through the facility in well under five minutes (or less, once they are registered), and the testing procedure itself usually takes less than 90 seconds. Transmission occurs after prolonged exposure to an infected person—over 15 minutes, cumulatively—not after just brief potential interactions.
• Physical distancing: The testing center has blue dots in the nose blowing bays, indicating how many people should be waiting in that area at a time. If there is no blue dot available, the Tufts medical assistants will be instructing patients to stay in their respective bays until there is space to move forward. Their role is to reinforce the existing signage we have about social distancing as well as act as traffic control, stopping entry to any area where there may be a bottleneck. 

• All students are asked to begin a self-quarantine at home or in their off-campus apartment for 10 days. During that time, limit contact and exposure only to the people you are living with. 

• Before traveling to Boston, all students are required to complete an online training module regarding Berklee’s COVID-19 protocols for health and safety.

• When you arrive on campus, you will go directly to the Berklee COVID-19 Testing Center, located at 167 Massachusetts Avenue, at your assigned date and time. If you have not received your schedule for your first two tests, email covidhealthcoordinator@berklee.edu.

• Residential students: You will have a two-hour window to move in to your residence hall. You will be allowed to have one registered family member to help you move in. Immediately after your test, you will quarantine in your residence hall for between eight and 10 days. At the end of that period, you will receive an email clearing you to start campus activities if you do not have any symptoms and receive two negative test results. After your initial quarantine, you must continue to complete the daily symptom reporting and follow the guidelines detailed in the social compact.

• Commuter students: You will report to the designated Berklee testing site to be tested for COVID-19. Immediately after your test, you will quarantine at home or in your apartment for eight–10 days. At the end of that period, you will receive an email clearing you to start campus activities if you do not have any symptoms and receive two negative test results. After your initial quarantine, you must continue to complete the daily symptom reporting and follow the guidelines detailed in the social compact.

• All students will be tested again on day four and must quarantine until you receive an email clearing you to start campus activities.

After completing two negative COVID-19 tests, all students must adhere to the following requirements:

• Schedule and complete a COVID-19 test twice per week at the designated Berklee COVID-19 Testing Center.

  • You are required to adhere to this policy, or you will immediately be restricted from campus.

  • If you miss a test, your campus access will be restricted. You will need to get tested and receive a negative test result before your access will be reinstated.

• If you have previously tested positive for COVID-19, you will need to provide medical documentation that you had previously been diagnosed with COVID-19 and have been cleared by a medical professional.

• If you are expected to return to campus for the spring semester, your manager and Human Resources will inform you of your start date and your specific testing protocols. Employees who are scheduled to start on January 4 immediately following the holiday will receive special instructions for testing. 

• Before reporting for your first day of work, you must self-quarantine at home for 10 days. Limit contact and exposure only to the people that you are living with.

• Once tested, you must continue to complete the daily symptom reporting and follow the guidelines detailed in the social compact. 

• Faculty and staff are required to complete an online training module regarding Berklee’s COVID-19 protocols for health and safety.

After completing a negative COVID-19 onboarding test, all faculty and staff must adhere to the following guidelines:

• Schedule and complete a COVID-19 test twice per week at the designated Berklee COVID-19 Testing Center.

  • Faculty and staff will be required to adhere to this policy or immediately be restricted from campus.

  • If you miss a test, your campus access will be restricted. You will need to take a test and receive a negative result before your access will be reinstated.

• Faculty and staff who have previously tested positive for COVID-19 will need to provide medical documentation that they had previously been diagnosed with COVID-19 and have recovered and been cleared by a medical professional.

• Faculty and staff who choose to get tested off-site will not be reimbursed. Berklee is covering the cost of testing that is completed at the designated Berklee testing location.

Test results will typically be available 24–48 hours after your test. You can view your test results in the CoVerified app (view instructions).

• Negative: You are cleared to access campus facilities and should continue your daily symptom reports and twice-weekly testing cadence. No additional actions are necessary.
• TNP: You are not cleared to access campus and should go to the testing center immediately, or as soon as it is open (Monday–Friday, 8:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.). This result indicates that your test could not be processed and will need to be administered. You do not need an appointment to return to the testing center in this case.
• Inconclusive: You are not cleared to access campus and should go to the testing center immediately, or as soon as it is open (Monday–Friday, 8:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.). This result indicates that your test result was inconclusive and will need to be administered. You do not need an appointment to return to the testing center in this case.
• Positive result: If your test is positive, the health care provider will call you to inform you of the isolation protocol and what you need to do. Soon after the health care provider calls you, the Berklee CT will call you from this phone number: 339-666-2940. If you do not pick up, they will leave a voicemail asking you to return the call. A text from an unknown number will also be sent to you requesting that you call back a phone number starting with area code 339 as soon as you are able. If you are in class, you will be excused to take the call or call back promptly. We encourage you to call back as soon as possible; the CT will continue calling you until they speak with you.

The CT will verify your information to ensure your privacy. They will ask for information concerning: 

• your likely exposure date;

• whom you had close contact with;

• if you were at gatherings;

• if you know how you were exposed; and  

• if you have symptoms or not. Note: Even if you are asymptomatic, you may be contagious and need to isolate.

The CT will share the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Berklee community isolation and quarantine protocol that you must adhere to.

In addition to getting a call from the health care provider and CT, you can expect the following:

• Your Berklee ID will be deactivated until your isolation or quarantine period is completed. Learn about Berklee’s isolation protocols.  

• After your isolation period, you will be notified that a health care provider from Tufts Medical Center has cleared you to return to campus. Your ID will be reactivated at this time so you can access campus facilities.

Berklee’s goal is to ensure that everyone you may have been in close contact with is aware of their potential exposure. CTs will share quarantine protocols with your close contacts and make sure they are not exposing others. Sharing who you were with or where you were is critical in helping to contain the spread of the virus.

Please note that all information that you share will be kept private unless you give us permission to share it with your contacts or if you directly share your test results with your friends and family with whom you were in contact. We recommend that you notify them first; if they are Berklee community members, let them know that the Berklee CTT will also reach out to them. If they are not part of Berklee, we will share this information with the local board of health or the Commonwealth Tracing Collaborative so they can contact them.

After they call you, the CT will alert Student Affairs (for students) or Human Resources (for faculty and staff). These teams will be available in case you need anything and will provide further guidance and follow up. We know that this is a challenging time for you, and we want you to know that Berklee is here to support you. If you have any general questions about contact tracing, please email cttm@berklee.edu.

Berklee CTs will contact you by phone from the number 339-666-2940. If you do not answer your phone, the tracer may send you a text message from another phone number, but they will identify themselves as part of the Berklee CTT. Please save this phone number in your cell phone so you know to answer the call when it comes in.