USAG Stuttgart Public Affairs
A U.S. Army medic conducts a COVID-19 test on a patient. Photo by Rick Scavetta, USAG Stuttgart.
Stuttgart Army Medical Clinic (Patch) COVID-19 screening and clinical services
Click to view current COVID-19 Guidelines for the Stuttgart Military Community, Effective March 5, 2021
Note for Tricare beneficiaries: Off-post testing is only reimbursable if required by an off-post provider as part of an evaluation and treatment plan
Guidelines effective March 5, 2021:
The current COVID-19 Guidelines for the Stuttgart Military Community address (click to view in full):
1) Definitions
2) What to do when feeling ill
3) Protocols for isolation, quarantine, and testing of COVID cases or contacts
4) Exceptional situations
5) Travel quarantine and testing guidance
6) Release from home isolation and quarantine
The primary changes to this document from the previous version are the adjustment of isolation and quarantine periods, reclassification of ring contacts, and discussion on variants.
Highlights:
1) If not a CONFIRMED variant case, then 10 day isolation is required.
Quarantine for close contacts: Test on day 6-7 and release on day 8
Quarantine for travelers: Test on day 6-7 and release on day 8
Ring Contacts in classroom are no longer considered close contacts. Surveillance on them but will not require quarantine
2) If from a CONFIRMED variant case:
Isolation: 14 days
Quarantine : 14 days
Contacts of contacts: 14 days
3) If someone has tested positive for COVID in the last 90 days, they are exempt from quarantine for 90 days. Additional guidelines are in place for pre-travel and pre-appointment testing.
4) A PCR test done 72 hours prior to travel to Germany counts as the first travel test.
Do’s and Don’ts for ALL quarantined personnel
- Do’s:
- Always wear a mask
- Always physically distance
- Always wash your hands
- If you have a working quarantine exemption certificate, keep it with you at all times for the 10 days from your first test
- Don’ts:
- Visit places of social interaction or recreation such as movie theaters, bars, nightclubs, dance halls, pools, spas, massage parlors, hookah lounges, etc.
- Playgrounds, on or off post
- Gyms or physical fitness facilities, on or off post
- Sit down to eat at a restaurant (in “working” quarantine, retrieving a to-go order and returning to your quarantine location is permissible when observing all normal precautions)
What to do when feeling ill:
Members of the USAG Stuttgart Community must self-monitor for symptoms of COVID-19 every day. If symptoms are noted, they should stay at home, avoid group activities (work, school, sports), and seek medical evaluation through the Army Health Clinic-Stuttgart. If symptoms develop at work, they should contact their supervisor, leave the work space, and seek medical evaluation. In the school setting, parents will be contacted and students who develop symptoms will be isolated from others in a supervised setting with climate control while awaiting pickup. Click here for additional information on clinic testing hours and procedures.
Those who have been tested for COVID-19 due to symptoms are considered Persons Under Investigation (PUI) and will remain in isolation until their COVID-19 status is determined. PUIs who test negative for COVID-19 are expected to socially distance from others. If the COVID-19 test is negative and the person has been symptom free for 48 hours, they can return to work or school as long as they have self-isolated for at least 72 hours.
For example, someone who had a sore throat on Monday and tests negative for COVID 19, then has no sore throat on Tuesday or Wednesday, can return to work on Thursday having self-isolated since Monday. If symptoms worsen, medical personnel may recommend continued social distancing and/or repeat testing.
Essential Item Shopping for Quarantined Personnel
- Programs are available at both the Exchange and Commissaries to accommodate the needs of quarantined personnel accessing bare essential items.
- Orders placed through the “Buy Online, Pick Up In Store” option at shopmyexchange.com may be picked up curbside by those under “working” quarantine orders. Families under full quarantine should ask their sponsor or contact ACS to request that a volunteer pick up the items and deliver them to the hotel room/quarters. If an authorized agent (sponsor or volunteer) will be picking up your items, be sure to let the Exchange Associate know.
- The Commissary Concierge program is also available for grocery needs. Contact the ACS volunteer program for guidance.
Communication
- DODEA schools in Stuttgart will notify parents each time a COVID-19 case occurs in the school or during bus transport. This is to allow for informed decisions regarding in-person education. Personal health information is protected by law and will not be disseminated.
- Individuals are expected to notify their immediate supervisor that they have been placed in isolation. Units may receive notification through the USAG Stuttgart channels. Return to work is in accordance with local policy and coordinated through the chain of command.
Health protection guidance for sponsors and family members of quarantined or isolating personnel
- Sponsors should follow these recommendations:
- Ensure that all newly arrived individuals use face coverings at all times while in the presence of other people
- The sponsor should also use a face covering when in the presence of the incoming individuals
- The sponsor should maintain physical distance (6 feet/2 meters) from the member/family to the extent possible
- Avoid shaking hands or any other close physical contact
- The sponsor and incoming individuals should use deliberate hand hygiene (wash hands frequently and use hand sanitizer)
- Consider helping arriving individuals and families hire transport from the airport (reimbursable PCS expense) to lodging with the sponsor following separately, in order to reduce time spent in close contact
- Use disinfecting wipes to clean vehicles surfaces & other frequently touched surfaces
- If sponsors must drive in-bounds to the clinic for COVID-19 testing, all should wear face coverings to the extent possible & in-bound individuals should sit in back seats if possible
- Sponsors providing food and other essentials to incoming personnel should minimize contact when delivering these items, such as leaving items outside the door of hotel rooms
- Sponsors are not required to quarantine following contact with incoming personnel, UNLESS the in-bounds test positive for COVID-19; follow medical provider or public health guidance
- Sponsors should, as always, self-monitor for any symptoms consistent with COVID-19 (fever, cough, shortness of breath, chills/shaking, sore throat, muscle aches, loss of smell or taste, headaches)
- if a newcomer tests positive and the unit sponsor has come into contact, the sponsor will be part of the tracing effort, will be tested and will put into isolation, and then into quarantine.
- In a household where a member returns from CONUS (or any RED country), whether from leave or TDY, the cohabitating family members do not need to quarantine. The returning member should isolate as much as possible within the domicile.
If you have questions about the terms of screening or quarantine, the clinic may be contacted directly at usarmy.stuttgart.id-europe.lis
Clinic Hours: The Stuttgart Army Health Clinic’s Acute Respiratory Drive-Thru is open from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday, except federal holidays. There is no afternoon testing on the first and third Thursdays of each month. Please drive up prior to 11:30 a.m. or after 1:00 p.m.
