Exposure to COVID-19 has been a daunting threat hanging over our heads for almost a year now, and for many, day-to-day precautions have become a challenge to uphold. However, in a city that averages over 100 new cases per day, Austinites must continue to do their part in minimizing the spread.
Dorm residents at UT are no exception. Close communal spaces such as bathrooms, study rooms and hallways make dorm buildings potential hotspots, which is why students returning back to campus from isolation facilities should first be required to test negative for COVID-19.
Terrance Hines, executive director and chief medical officer for University Health Services, said the current return-to-campus requirement for asymptomatic students who test positive for COVID-19 is to have spent 10 days in self-isolation. For symptomatic individuals, an additional 24-hour symptom-free period is needed. This can be done either at home or at an off-site isolation facility sponsored by the University.
“After their isolation period, students who tested positive for COVID-19 are not thought to be infectious,” Hines said. “Our tests are hypersensitive and can cause students to have a persistent false positive for weeks or months even though they’re no longer a risk to other people.”
This protocol is in place per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations. However, some students question if the faulty results are really that common. In studies conducted by Rutgers University and Yale University, no false positives were found in saliva-based COVID-19 testing.
Angelo Bianchi, theatre studies freshman and Jester West resident, said he underwent the isolation process in early February after being exposed to a coworker. He said that knowing about the current protocols in place has made returning back to campus even more nerve-wracking.
“I feel like UT doesn’t address COVID in the best way possible, especially in the dorm halls,” Bianchi said. “Before being let back into your dorm room or on campus, you need to come in with a negative test.”
Abby Mendez, journalism freshman and Jester West resident who also tested positive for COVID-19 and underwent self-isolation, agrees.
“It makes me nervous knowing how easy it was for me to get it in the dorms without knowingly being exposed to any positive cases,” Mendez said. “I’m definitely going to be more cautious in my day-to-day living.”
There is still so much to be discovered about COVID-19, and although there are cracks in the testing system, UT needs to have protocols that protect its students from getting infected with the highest degree of certainty.
Only then can we begin to see any real change in the amount of COVID-19 cases on and around campus.
Hill is a journalism freshman from El Paso, Texas.
