Yale University is mandating that its students quarantine on campus for one month after they arrive. Classes resumed on February 1, and students are expected not to leave campus until March 1.
“The policies are of course not meant to be punitive. They are meant to reduce the risk of viral spread in the community at a time of sharply higher infection rates across the country as well as here in New Haven,” said Dean of Yale College Marvin Chun to Yale Daily News.
During the fall 2020 semester, Yale students were required to quarantine in their residential colleges for 14 days after arriving on campus. But the spring 2021 guidelines are twice as strict, mandating a month-long quarantine period that will be broken up into three phases.
First, students were instructed to register for a move-in date on either January 28 or 29. Students are also required to take a pre-arrival coronavirus test that was sent by mail to their current residence, which must be negative before they can arrive on campus.
Phase one of the quarantine requires students to stay in their suites until they receive a negative test result from the coronavirus test they took upon arrival, which is estimated can take 24 to 36 hours.
But testing negative for the coronavirus is not enough, as students must then abide by the next two phases of the month-long quarantine.
The second phase of quarantine begins after the student receives their negative test result. During this phase, students will be allowed to leave their suite, but they will be required to stay within their residential college, or other campus residence, and the corresponding courtyard, reports Yale Daily News.
Phase two ends at 6:59 a.m. on February 15.
From there, phase three — which lasts from 7:0o a.m. on February 15 until 7:00 a.m. on March 1 — will allow students to leave their residential college, but they must remain on campus.
During this phase, students are instructed to avoid “restaurants, coffee shops, stores or any other spaces that are not campus buildings.”
“This additional guideline comes from the state of Connecticut and at a time when viral cases are significantly higher than they were in the fall, both nationally and locally, and as the significantly more contagious variant has been detected in Connecticut,” Chun told Yale Daily News.
“The extra time is needed to establish low levels of transmission within the student community,” he added.
Violations of these rules will be subject to review and potential discipline by the Compact Review Committee, according to Chun. The report added that more than 150 students were brought before this committee in the fall 2020 semester.
Yale is not the only university implementing coronavirus-related protocols — in which failure to comply can result in potential discipline — for students returning to campus this semester.
Baylor University is mandating its students take weekly coronavirus tests, adding that those who fail to comply could have their Wi-Fi disabled, be blacklisted from participating in student organizations, or be suspended.
At Boston University, students who do not comply with the school’s “routine and frequent lab testing,” as well as “daily symptom attestation,” can have their Student ID Card, and Wi-Fi disabled.
And at the University of Illinois, students who don’t comply with lockdown rules could lose their access to WiFi, as well as Compass, a tool used to access and submit class assignments.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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