RLC Updates — COVID-19 Coronavirus

Rend Lake College’s policies regarding COVID-19 continue to be aligned with state guidelines. Governor Pritzker announced this week that the statewide requirement to wear masks indoors will expire February 28, 2022.

Effective March 1, masks will be optional and no longer required inside Rend Lake College facilities.

This has no impact on the vaccine/testing mandate. Continue to practice social distancing and monitor yourself for symptoms. The reporting of vaccination status and testing expectations at RLC have not changed at this point.

The news that masks will be optional at RLC in a little more than two weeks — along with the rapidly decreasing COVID-19 hospitalizations and high rates of vaccination reported by state leaders — is an encouraging sign. In the meantime, please continue to follow the mask policy here at the college. As always, I appreciate your flexibility and cooperation.

Please keep monitoring your Warriormail and our many other communication channels for updates regarding the college’s COVID-19 policies. I look forward to seeing your faces very soon.

Terry Wilkerson
President, Rend Lake College

January 13, 2022

We have received questions regarding the new CDC guidelines for Covid-19, so we would like to share some information with everyone. To be considered fully vaccinated with Moderna or Pfizer vaccines, you have to have received the 2^nd dose of the vaccine within the last 5 months, for Johnson and Johnson you have to have been vaccinated within the last 2 months. If you are outside of this timeframe, a booster is required to be considered fully vaccinated at this point.

If you are a close contact to someone who has tested positive, have symptoms or a positive result yourself please contact HR as soon as possible so we can give guidance. If you have received your booster for Covid-19, please send HR proof of that, if you have not already done so. Please email to [email protected].

Shield will be here on Wednesdays from 7:30am-9:00am for testing this semester. If you are not able to get your test on campus, please feel free to be tested at another facility such as CVS or Walgreens and remember to upload your results. We will also be hosting Covid-19 Vaccine Clinics on January 19^th and February 9^th from 8:30am-1:30pm in the gym. We have provided a flyer with the clinic information below.

As always, please do not hesitate to contact HR with questions.

2022 COVID Vaccine Clinic Information

January 12, 2022

VACCINATION CLINICS SCHEDULED

Free vaccine clinics are scheduled for 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Jan. 19 and Feb. 9 in Waugh Gymnasium. All three versions are available (Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson). Walk in or schedule your appointment here.

Can't make this clinic? Find one near you at www.vaccines.gov. Hotline: 833-621-1284

SHIELD TESTING REMINDER

Remember SHIELD Illinois is on campus in the Gymnasium today from until 9:00 AM to conduct free COVID-19 testing. If you cannot make it to campus to test you will need to provide results from another testing source.

Who needs to test? All unvaccinated students attending classes on a Rend Lake College campus will need to test weekly.

When is testing? Wednesdays in the Gym on the Ina campus from 7:30 - 9:00 AM.

What to do with results? When you get your results you will upload them to the COVID-19 Testing Tracker at rlcforms.rlc.edu by Friday of each week.

More detailed information can be found in the email that was sent on Monday evening.

If you have questions email [email protected] or call 618-437-5321 Ext. 1790.

Have a great day!

January 11, 2022

By state mandate (Executive Order 2021-22 as amended by Executive Order 2022-01), all unvaccinated students attending classes on any Rend Lake College campus are required to test weekly until further notice. Should you choose to get vaccinated to avoid weekly testing, you can submit your vaccination Status at: https://rlcforms.rlc.edu

It is the responsibility of the student to be tested on a weekly basis and provide evidence of the test to Rend Lake College.

BEING TESTED:

SHIELD Illinois will offer testing in the gymnasium at the Ina campus on Wednesday every week between the hours of 7:30 and 9:00 AM. If you wish to take advantage of the free SHIELD Illinois saliva-based test, you will need to register with SHIELD Illinois by following the directions in the attached document. Information about SHIELD testing is included directly below:

What is SHIELD Illinois?

SHIELD Illinois is a University of Illinois program whose goal is to share the innovative, saliva-based COVID-19 test developed at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with the rest of the state. The process requires individuals to simply deposit a small amount of saliva in a vial, which usually takes less than five minutes, and provides results within 24 hours of samples reaching a SHIELD Illinois lab.

Create your SHIELD IL Portal account

In order to schedule appointments and view test results, individuals should create an account on the SHIELD IL portal. Please use the URL and Agency Code below to create your portal.

Website to sign up: https://shieldillinoisportal.pointnclick.com/

Agency Code: v99k3key-stu

You can choose to make an appointment or walk-in.

Testing instructions

Individuals should not eat, drink (including water), chew gum, smoke, or use tobacco products within 60 minutes of providing a saliva sample. Doing any of these things within 60 minutes of providing a sample could produce an inconclusive result and require the individual to re-test. Test results will be posted in the patient portal after the lab results are completed.

If you choose to test at a facility other than Rend Lake College you will be responsible for any costs or fees incurred.

If you have questions about vaccination or testing please email us at [email protected].

PROVIDING EVIDENCE OF TESTING:

You will be responsible for entering test results into the RLC COVID-19 Test Tracker by Friday of each week until further notice. You must upload your test result to the RLC COVID-19 Test Tracker at https://rlcforms.rlc.edu. You will enter your Warriormail email address and password to log in. The items required to complete the Tracker submission will be

Warrior Tag
Date of Birth
Date of test administration
Test result (positive or negative)
Photo/screen shot of test result

SHIELD ILLINOIS PORTAL SETUP INSTRUCTIONS

January 5, 2022

We hope everyone enjoyed their holiday break and is looking forward to a new semester! We wanted to take a minute an update you with the newest Covid-19 guidance that we have received and to remind you of a couple of related items. First, please do not get lax about wearing your masks! The Omicron strain has hit our area pretty hard, so it is still very important to make sure you are wearing your mask whenever you are out of your assigned area or are in direct contact with others within your assigned area. Second, if you have received your booster for Covid-19, please send HR proof of that, if you have not already done so. Finally, you will find a link to the latest guidance from the Governor’s office that we will be implementing immediately. https://dph.illinois.gov/covid19/community-guidance/quarantine-guidance.html Thank you for your cooperation with these requests and please continue to make us aware of positive results and/or symptoms that you may develop.

Employees have been doing a great job for participating in the weekly testing, so thank you for that! Shield will be back on campus beginning January 12^th from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. in Gym 110. If you are not able to get your test on campus, please feel free to be tested anywhere and remember to upload your results.