To: USC Students, Faculty and Staff
From: Sarah Van Orman, Chief Health Officer for USC Student Health
Date: April 9, 2020
Subject: Face Coverings Health Advisory: City of Los Angeles
Based on direction of the Mayor of Los Angeles, the use of face masks and/or cloth face coverings is now required in public settings on the USC campuses, effective tomorrow, April 10, 2020. USC community members should be aware that use of face covering is also required when visiting essential businesses such as grocery stores, pharmacies, hardware stores, coin-operated laundry services, restaurants, hotels, taxis, ride-hail vehicles and several other essential businesses throughout the City of Los Angeles as well as in other cities and counties within California.
As COVID-19 continues to have significant community transmission in Los Angeles and elsewhere in the world, guidance on infection control measures will shift to meet the current challenges. In the U.S. and other countries, we should assume that everywhere we go, every surface we touch, every person that we come into contact with may potentially be infectious.
Separate messages have been relayed to on-campus students and essential employees related to campus requirements. Students residing in private off-campus residences near campus may request face coverings; please contact housing@usc.edu for distribution instructions.
Face coverings are not a substitute for compliance with current social distancing and hand washing guidance, which should be consistently observed. For all individuals, the safest measures continue to be to stay at home for anything other than essential needs, social distance by minimizing contact with other individuals, staying 6 feet away from others, and frequent handwashing for 20 seconds or using a 60% alcohol-based hand sanitizing solution. The addition of a cloth face covering (cloth mask, scarf, bandanna) may help reduce the spread of potentially infectious droplets within the community when combined with these other measures.
For more complete information on when and how to use, make, and clean cloth face coverings, please see these guidelines developed by EH&S. Additional information is also available from the Los Angeles County and California Departments of Public Health. Please contact us if you have questions:
- Questions or comments may be sent to covid19@usc.edu; answers to frequently asked questions are available on the COVID-19 website.
- Notification about an exposure or positive test should be made to the COVID-19 hotline: 213-740-6291.
- Supervisors with questions about physical environmental safety measures may contact Environmental Health and Safety at ehs@usc.edu, 323-442-2200.
We will continue to update the community with current information and recommendations, as the health, safety and well-being of our Trojan Family remains front and center of all our actions and concerns.
Stay safe and stay well.