Dear Students:

As the University prepares for our fall semester, we would like to inform our community about certain medical conditions that place students at increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19. URI Health Services would like to better serve you and ensure that you have appropriate medical support and academic/housing accommodations.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people of any age with the following conditions are at increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19:

• Chronic kidney disease
• COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)
• Immunocompromised state (weakened immune system) from solid organ transplant
• Obesity (body mass index [BMI] of 30 or higher)
• Serious heart conditions, such as heart failure, coronary artery disease, or cardiomyopathies
• Sickle cell disease
• Type 2 diabetes mellitus

COVID-19 is a new disease, and there is limited data and information about the impact of underlying medical conditions and whether they increase the risk for severe illness from COVID-19. Based on what we know at this time, people with the following conditions might be at an increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19:

• Asthma (moderate-to-severe)
• Cerebrovascular disease (affects blood vessels and blood supply to the brain)
• Cystic fibrosis
• Hypertension or high blood pressure
• Immunocompromised state (weakened immune system) from blood or bone marrow transplant, immune deficiencies, HIV, use of corticosteroids, or use of other immune weakening medicines
• Neurologic conditions, such as dementia
• Liver disease
• Pregnancy
• Pulmonary fibrosis (having damaged or scarred lung tissues)
• Smoking
• Thalassemia (a type of blood disorder)
• Type 1 diabetes mellitus

If you have any of the aforementioned conditions or some other medical condition that leads to a weakened immune system, and need an accommodation, we ask that you fill out the COVID-19 Exemption Request form on our patient portal (under the Forms tab) to indicate a condition that may put you at increased risk.

We continue to encourage all community members to practice physical distancing, excellent hand hygiene, wear a cloth face covering when in public and refrain from touching your face. Find more recommendations from the CDC on strategies to keep healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic with an underlying health condition.

Health Services looks forward to your return to campus and is dedicated to your health and success!  Please feel free to call with any health-related questions at (401) 874-2246.

In Health,
Christopher Nasin, MD
Medical Director
URI Health Services