Two UC Santa Barbara dining services staff members have separately tested positive for coronavirus, according to a campus-wide email sent out Monday from Garry Mac Pherson, vice chancellor for administrative services. 

Neither staff member was involved in food preparation, Mac Pherson said in the email. Max Abrams / Daily Nexus

Neither staff member was involved in food preparation, Mac Pherson said in the email. The university notified staff members who may have come into contact with either individual, but “there is no evidence to suggest the cases are connected through work,” Mac Pherson said. 

Dining services employees have been following sanitizing and cleaning protocols and wearing face coverings and gloves to reduce the chance of transmission, Mac Pherson wrote. 

As of now, all dining commons are currently closed; students who remain on campus must visit the Linda Vista room at Santa Catalina Residence Hall to pick up their meals, according to the dining services’ website. 

“Students receive their pre-prepared meals at an outdoor satellite location equipped with protective shields, and all tables and surface areas are cleaned and sanitized following every transaction,” Mac Pherson said in the email. 

“Dining Services also has designated monitoring teams to ensure compliance during work hours and managers perform daily verbal wellness screening with team members,” he continued. 

UCSB has confirmed four cases of coronavirus on campus in total: a student who briefly returned to campus to move out of their dorm, an individual who had briefly accessed UCSB’s Nanofabrication facility for approved essential research and the two new cases announced today. 

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Max Abrams
Max Abrams served as the lead news editor for the 2020-2021 school year. He is from Buffalo. That's all you need to know.