The health and safety of our community is our highest priority at TISA. So, we continue to closely monitor the spread of the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19 daily with great care. Additional cases are being confirmed daily in the United States and other countries, and the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the coronavirus a pandemic.

Accordingly, TISA is committed to implementing the following procedures for the continued health and safety of our community and taking steps to mitigate any potential cases for our students, staff, and faculty consistent with all public health directives from federal, state and local agencies even as our educational programs and institutional operations continue.

1. TISA has shifted all weekend intensives scheduled between now and the Spring 2022 semester (January 2022) to online and remote instruction.
   
   
2. All TISA public in person events scheduled are postponed indefinitely. We will reach out to all those who registered for events, and we hope to reschedule these events as soon as it becomes safe to do so.
   
   
3. Students, staff, and faculty are strongly discouraged from personal travel. If you are planning personal or other travel, please refer to the CDC’s Coronavirus Information for Travel and geographic reports on the CDC’s Coronavirus Disease in the U.S. page. Please note that the Seminary reserves the right to request quarantine or otherwise restrict the movement of students, staff or faculty who have traveled and/or are deemed to pose a health risk to our community.
   
   
4. Students, staff and faculty, are reminded that stigmatization and discrimination of people of Chinese and Asian descent, as well as travelers returning from areas more affected by the virus, is against Seminary policy.
   
   
5. TISA continues to strongly encourage all our students, staff, and faculty to follow
   necessary steps to minimize risk to ourselves, to our TISA community, and the broader communities to which we belong and with whom we connect. The precautionary measures recommended by the WHO and CDC include:
   • Wear a mask.
   • Receive the current COVID-19 vaccine.
   • Wash your hands frequently and thoroughly for a minimum of 20 seconds, using soap and water or hand sanitizer.
   • Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
   • Disinfect commonly used items such as cell phones, laptops, keyboards with
     disinfectant wipes.
   • Avoid close contact with those who are sick, particularly those who are coughing,
     sneezing, or evidently ill.
   • Cover your mouth with a tissue, sleeve, or elbow (not hands) when sneezing or
     coughing; discard tissues immediately in closed bins.
   • Keep a distance of at least 3 feet between yourself and others.
   • Stay home if you feel sick with a fever of 100.4 or above and seek attention from
     a medical provider if your symptoms warrant it. Staff who stay home because
     they are ill may work from home. However, the employee must let me know of
     their illness in writing and get written approval from Prof Jimmy Jones, TISA
     Executive Vice President at james.jones@islamicseminary.us or call (203) 376-
     7189 PRIOR to working from home.
   • Keep your immune system strong by eating a healthy diet, getting enough sleep
     along with regular exercise, and by taking care of underlying health conditions.
   • Comply with directives from federal, state and local health authorities on large gatherings and space occupancy.
6. TISA encourages all our students, staff, and faculty to check out the following useful
   Links:
   • World Health Organization Coronavirus page
     https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019
   • CDC COVID-19 page https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/summary.html
   • Texas DSHS COVID-19 page https://www.dshs.texas.gov/coronavirus/
7. Also, see ICNA Relief’s information below (used with permission).