Has anyone attending college in the state of Massachusetts received guidance on 14 self quarantine before arriving to campus?
I’m from NY, so I am on the exempt list…wondering since it is now a state requirement, how colleges will handle this.
I live in a COVID hot zone. I’m hearing people say they are planning to fly in to a neighboring state and drive to MA to avoid the quarantine requirement. Students returning to campus could end up causing a COVID dumpster fire for Massachusetts with so many colleges.
@Sisternight
they go by your state drivers license …so it wouldn’t help if they drove through another state. Also, the colleges know where the students are coming from …I was wondering if any colleges are giving guidance or plan on enforcing this. You are correct, it could lead to a dumpster fire.
In NY Ithaca College is not letting students from certain hotspot states on campus until their states have been taken off the list. They must take classes remotely. Not sure if any MA schools have announced how they are addressing the 14-day quarantine issue.
I saw that about Ithaca…which prompted me to look into MA. They will have thousands of students descending into the Boston area from all over the country. MA currently has 14 day quarantine restrictions, so I think this would apply, but I haven’t seen any schools directly address it.
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Most of the neighboring states, if not all, have the same restrictions as MA.
^Yes, but at least in Maine they are not enforced much at all. 
MA is also not enforcing quarantines. I expect that schools will enforce it for arriving students. The general requirement for quarantining in MA is an “expectation”, not a requirement.
https://www.mass.gov/doc/covid-19-travel-advisory-july-1-2020/download
I’m not sure where @Luckyjade2024 got her information above about checking drivers licenses. No one is checking anyone’s drivers license in MA.
How about we all just follow the rules? It’ll go a long way to making this thing end sooner. I just don’t get why so many people think they’re too good for the rules.
I got my drivers license info from hotels that are checking them upon check in. My parents called a few hotels to ask their policy before we booked our rooms. I know Florida was checking them at the borders and hotels before they were a “hot spot” and so have many other states.
@me29034
ps…i’m a him, not a her
Hotels ALWAYS check your ID before check in. I don’t know if they are treating people from South Carolina differently than guests from NYC.
A friend was going to go to Colorado from South Carolina. She was told by the management company she’d have to quarantine for 14 days BEFORE she could check in. This was definitely a property owner’s decision as that’s not a requirement in Colorado. She just cancelled.
Tufts announced they will be following MA travel advisory guidelines…and more details will follow on the 14 day quarantine requirement for out of state students
I think for many families there’s the price tag attached to quarantining for 2 weeks in a hotel before going to the campus if the college isn’t providing housing. A friend who’s daughter is going to school in MA was just discussing it. It’s easily around $1400 minimum for room and food for the 2 weeks.
$1400 would be modest for a room in MA, plus food costs.
Can you tell me where to find this announcement? I have a D20 heading to Tufts in the fall from a hotspot state, so we’re very interested in this issue. I don’t see it on their main web page, but maybe I just missed it.
@Luckyjade2024
That’s a minimum amount. I’m sure it would be more. That’s why some people are concerned about the quarantine. Also have to make sure how food delivery works, and arranging to move all the college stuff from the hotel to the dorm etc… Cost and logistics. Not really that great.
it was on the facebook live event held earlier today on health and wellness…they said guidance is coming soon. you can watch it …the videos are uploaded.
it’s a nightmare for sure. maybe colleges will have rooms set aside for quarantine…not a great way to start college…in isolation.
@oaktown78
this is older info from Tufts
All undergraduate students returning to Tufts in person for the fall will be required to participate in COVID-19 testing according to protocols set by the university.
For students moving into the residence halls, these tests will be administered upon arriving to campus, and students may be required to quarantine in their assigned housing space while they await results of the initial test. Students living off-campus but participating in Fall 2020 in person will participate in testing before the start of the fall term. Health Services will send a more detailed arrival-testing protocol to all in-person students later this summer.
Once the initial testing protocol (which generally takes three to five days altogether) is completed, students will be informed that they may socialize and move about campus while following public-health guidance (i.e., using face masks at all times outside their bedroom and observing physical distancing whenever outside their residential cohort).
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so do all students wait 3-5 days in our rooms until the COVID results come back?
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