MONITORING OF SARS-COV-2 AND GRADUAL RESUMPTION OF IN-PERSON ACTIVITIES AT A UNIVERSITY IN THE METROPOLITAN REGION OF THE STATE OF SÃO PAULO: Humanized guidance on a large scale using WhatsApp

In December 2019 the new coronavirus was described and the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 was named COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019). Due to the pandemic, nonessential activities were restricted in 2020. Universities began to study safe ways to return to activities, which pointed out that the biosecurity measures that were sustained as effective were the use of masks, social distancing, personal hygiene, in addition to monitoring programs by testing and the isolation of contaminated individuals. The objective of this study was the development of communication tools for monitoring SARS-CoV-2 by testing in the UFABC community, during the gradual return to face-to-face activities, from May 2021 to December 2022. The tests were performed by RtqPCR, with saliva samples, on cotton and in small quantities, in a dry collection tube, wrapped in a 70% Isopropyl Alcohol wipe, which allows the sample to remain viable for two weeks and the collection boxes can be handled by workers without risk of contamination. The sample analysis can be handled in a laboratory with biosafety level  2. The results were delivered by a health professional by telephone, during the first wave and by WhatsApp and email until the end of the surveillance period. UFABC administration presented several changes to the biosafety protocol, according to the epidemiological period experienced, which had an impact on the community's behavior regarding testing. The divergence of information disclosed, whether in the municipal, state or federal public sphere, or in the private sphere, about the pandemic, proved to be an important obstacle to community orientation and the dissemination of adequate information. Whatsapp web “monitor covid” proved to be a valuable tool for contacting the community. A humanized channel was constituted to receive the doubts and anxieties, as well as contact and guidance regarding the biosafety protocols adopted at the university, and health issues in general, which subsidized the monitoring by providing a rich and detailed collection of data. Not only monitoring and testing itself, but the entire community orientation process was essential for the successful mitigation of SARS-CoV-2 infections in the university environment.