{"id":422082,"date":"2020-03-31T14:49:10","date_gmt":"2020-03-31T18:49:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=422082"},"modified":"2020-04-04T13:33:55","modified_gmt":"2020-04-04T17:33:55","slug":"university-relocates-students-on-campus-to-single-rooms-creates-isolation-quarantine-areas-422082","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/university-relocates-students-on-campus-to-single-rooms-creates-isolation-quarantine-areas-422082\/","title":{"rendered":"Moves protect students and make way for isolation, quarantine areas"},"content":{"rendered":"

In an effort to protect students living on campus from COVID-19, the Ä¢¹½´«Ã½<\/a> has taken proactive steps to provide separate living spaces for undergraduates who have to remain in residential halls so that they\u2019re less likely to come into contact with coronavirus.<\/p>\n

The readiness plan also includes freeing up living areas that may be used for quarantine and isolation areas so that students who need that level of care can receive it.<\/p>\n

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Coronavirus update<\/h2>\n

The University\u2019s website<\/a> is a way to find guidance and critical information during a rapidly changing situation.<\/p>\n

COVID-19 symptoms or exposure?<\/h2>\n

Find out what to do <\/a>if you or a close contact have symptoms or think you may have been exposed.\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re trying to achieve with the students who remain on campus is further social distancing,\u201d says Jane Gatewood, vice provost for global engagement and cochair of CURT (Coronavirus University Response Team). \u201cThe first phase was putting all students in single rooms, to further de-densify them. Phase two was securing quarantine and isolation areas so we are prepared if we find the disease has spread to the residential population.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gatewood and Mark Cavanaugh, chief safety officer and director of Environmental Health & Safety, since early February have cochaired the CURT, which helps coordinate COVID-19 planning and responses, including an operations subgroup that has helped lead these kind of residential adjustments.<\/p>\n

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, the University went to remote learning for all classes on March 23. Students who were allowed to remain on campus included those who had difficulty returning to their home country and those with serious challenges that prohibited them from leaving.<\/p>\n

There are 815 undergraduates living on the River Campus, from an original total of 4,277 who were living there at the start of the spring semester. Of the 342 who started the semester living on the Eastman School of Music campus, only 25 remain and all are in single rooms.<\/p>\n

On March 23, 32 students moved from Wilder Tower to nearby Anderson Tower. More were relocated over the weekend as 32 were moved from doubles to singles (almost all of them in the same residence hall), and 67 students in Hill Court were relocated to apartments in de Kiewiet and Valentine towers. Each student is in a single room within an apartment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe regret the disruption, but it is the only way we can be prepared to provide support if there is a large number of ill students who have COVID-19,\u201d says Ralph Manchester, director of the University Health Service.<\/p>\n

The moves are needed to prepare campus spaces to best serve the needs of students and help slow the spread of the virus as the pandemic progresses. That includes preparing:<\/p>\n