In the past two weeks, St. Lawrence University administrators have new quarantine and isolation plans that provide more freedom and less directive for students who test positive for COVID-19. In an email sent out to the student body on Jan.18 from the Academic Dean’s Office, the university outlined a reduction of the 10-day isolation period to five days. This precedent was set in late December of 2021 by the Center for Disease Control on the grounds that the Omicron variant of COVID-19 is most contagious a few days prior to and a few days after the onset of symptoms (CDC Updates). The email directed students to the university’s “Containment and Quarantine” website, which outlined an isolation period of five days for students who test positive, after which they can return to campus life.
During this five-day period, vaccinated students who test positive may be isolated in one of the university’s cumulative 137 quarantine beds or remain in their room. If students opt for the latter, all of their roommates must sign an “In Room Isolation” form acknowledging their consent. Per the email, students will not be marked absent for class during isolation but must work closely with university professors in order to maintain engagement in their courses. Similarly, professors must offer an online option for students in isolation to ensure they have access to lectures and discussions. At the end of the five-day period, students may be cleared by the Health and Counseling Center to leave their isolation room and are “permitted to return to their traditional campus housing,” or if already quarantined in their residence hall, return to using communal bathrooms and common spaces.
While many have celebrated the reduced isolation period, the university has not made clear whether students must still socially distance or wear masks around their room or housemates in the days following their release from isolation. Though wearing a well-fitting mask around others for five days after release from isolation is the directive outlined on the St. Lawrence County government website, a similar sentiment is not explicitly expressed in university email communication or on the university “Containment and Quarantine” webpage. This has created confusion amongst the student body as to whether students are allowed to eat in dining halls, attend classes or exist in their rooms without their masks on.
Sophomore Billie McClosky ‘24, who was recently released from isolation, noted that if she wasn’t involved with athletics, she would’ve had no directive. McClosky noted that while she preferred the shorter, five-day quarantine as it was less mentally and physically taxing, she received no follow-up email once released. She only received information about how she was permitted to interact with the campus community from her athletic trainer, Brian Atkins. McClosky also noted that she would not have gotten clarification if she hadn’t asked Atkins and concluded that “you have to know what questions to ask if you want to find the information.” In the end, McClosky was allowed to attend practice with a mask on, and allowed to go about her daily life, albeit a bit more safely.