COVID-19 Safety Protocols

For the health and safety of PCNW staff, faculty, students, and lab users, all visitors to our facility and/or participating in an on-location course/field trip, must abide by the following protocols:

COVID-19 VACCINATION
PCNW requires that students, faculty, staff and lab users provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination to participate in courses, attend programs, and/or work in our facilities. To request a religious or medical exemption, please contact education@pcnw.org. Individuals visiting PCNW on a temporary basis (i.e. to visit the gallery, attend a lecture) may present proof of a recent, negative COVID-19 test. Proof of vaccination/negative test can be presented to an appropriate PCNW staff member upon check-in for a course, event, or lab reservation.

MONITOR YOUR HEALTH
Staff, faculty, students, and other visitors are asked to monitor their own health including taking their temperature at home; see the CDC website for information about COVID-19 symptoms. If you are experiencing any symptoms, please stay home and follow current quarantine/isolation guidelines; read more at Washington Department of Health. If any individual has a temperature of 100.4º or above they will not be permitted in PCNW facilities or to attend an on-location course/field trip, and must remain home until they can confirm that they are not infected.

POSITIVE COVID-19 TEST OR CONFIRMED EXPOSURE
The following guidance is provided to students, faculty, staff and other PCNW community members who have tested positive for COVID-19, come into contact with an individual who has tested positive, or is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19.

Additional information about symptoms, testing, isolation, quarantine, and more regarding COVID-19 can be found via the following resources:
King County Public Health
Washington State Department of Health
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

If you test positive for COVID-19, please notify PCNW at pcnw@pcnw.org or 206.720.7222 x0. Any individual who tests positive for COVID-19 should isolate regardless of vaccination status.

If you have symptoms and tested positive for COVID-19 or are awaiting test results, you can stop your home isolation when:
– You’ve been fever-free for at least 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication AND
– Your symptoms have gotten better AND
– At least 10 days have gone by since your symptoms first appeared.

If you tested positive for COVID-19 but have not had any symptoms, you can stop your home isolation when:
– At least 10 days have gone by since the date of your first positive COVID-19 test AND
– You have not developed symptoms.

If you were exposed to COVID-19, please follow the current recommendations for quarantine and/or isolation available at Washington State Department of Health.

FACE MASKS
Face masks must be worn at all times within the PCNW facilities and/or during on-location courses/field trips regardless of vaccination status. PCNW will provide disposable face masks for staff, faculty, students, and other visitors in the case they do not have their own.

HYGIENE / SANITATION
All staff, faculty, students, and other visitors are required to wash their hands after using the restroom and kitchen area, touching their face, and visiting other shared spaces, and are encouraged to wash hands often. PCNW has multiple locations with abundant soap and running water throughout our facility, however, in the event that soap and running water are unavailable (including for on-location courses/field trips) alcohol-based hand sanitizers will be readily available.

PHYSICAL DISTANCING
All staff, faculty, students, and other visitors must abide by the physical distancing measures PCNW has implemented throughout our facilities and for on-location courses/field trips. These measures include:
Demarcating appropriate distancing using tape and signage throughout classrooms and labs; individuals are asked to be mindful of distancing in classrooms as well as during on-location courses/field trips, and only use workstations indicated as open for use in labs.
Limiting the number of individuals who may be in a given space at one time. Reservations to access the facilities are required, no walk-ins will be permitted.
Signs directing the flow of traffic are present throughout common areas in the facilities; individuals are asked to follow these signs and not to gather.

INCIDENT REPORTING & CONTACT TRACING
PCNW is required to keep record of visitors to our facilities, including name, phone number, and e-mail address. Please know that this information is strictly for health and safety purposes in the event there is a confirmed case of COVID-19.

Individual(s) with a confirmed case of COVID-19 are asked to inform PCNW staff so that we may notify the local health department as well as inform our community members who may have been in direct contact with the individual and/or indirect contact by visiting PCNW around the same timeframe. We will maintain confidentiality of infected individuals as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Individuals with confirmed cases of COVID-19 will not be permitted to return to PCNW until they are able to prove they are healthy.

FAILURE TO COMPLY
Refusal to present proof of vaccination or negative COVID-19 test, to wear a mask onsite at PCNW or when attending an on-location course/field trip, or to abide by any other posted safety and sanitary protocols will result in the individual being sent home.

If you have any questions regarding these protocols or the other steps PCNW is taking to ensure the health and safety of our community as we resume in-person activities, please contact us at pcnw@pcnw.org or 206.720.7222 x0.