So, the saga continues. D had coughing and fever this morning and walked the 20 minutes from campus to urgent care, waited almost two hours to take the test, and got news that she is negative (so far) for Covid and positive for Influenza A. Told to wait for her prescription to fill and then she’d have to walk another 20 minutes or so to a pharmacy.
Meanwhile, her roommate has been at a hotel for Covid and is due back to the dorm in the morning. Roommate freaked out about D’s influenza, saying that in her own weakened Immune system state she shouldn’t have to share a room with someone with the flu. D is also aware that she (herself) could prove to also be fighting a Covid infection…it could still show up in a couple of days. She’s so sick of all this stress and uncertainty (and can’t go to classes all week anyway)so she gave into the roommate even though the school doesn’t require her to move out for the flu. Had to get an Uber to the hotel. She had forgotten about the prescription, which then came through with no way to get it…even if she got another Uber the pharmacy closed before she could have done that. Fortunately an upperclass friend with a car generously volunteered to fetch it for her tomorrow. At least she will have peace and quiet to study next week. Being in a cramped dorm room with a roommate who is upset about your presence is not the best way to recover from sickness at the stressful end of a semester so maybe the hotel will be worth the expense and give her a measure of calm. I sure hope this simply become a funny life-can-be-complicated story for her to tell her kids one day. And, honestly, I can’t say I blame the roommate for feeling this way…not sure I would want to walk into a room full of flu germs right after having Covid either. She has been a great roommate all year and It’s not worth jeopardizing that. It will all be Ok.
D21 caught Covid, even though she was vaxxed and boosted. Her only symptom was a sore throat for two days. She’s been in quarantine in a hotel. She just today tested negative and got out after 9 days - April 16 to April 25. It was an ordeal.
She had 1 hour to pack things before the van came to take her to the hotel. She had been about to do some laundry, so didn’t have a lot of clean clothes. She really didn’t know what all to bring, other than class stuff and her electronics and chargers. She hoped to only be quarantined for the 5 day minimum. That didn’t work out. She got sick of wearing the same few clothes. The college gave her a $70 per day Grub Hub voucher, which actually isn’t all that much when it’s your only source of food for every single meal. The room had a kitchenette, but it wasn’t all that helpful.
She really missed seeing and talking to people. She missed exercising and being able to walk more than 6 feet. She missed fresh air. The TV in her room didn’t work. She participated in classes by Zoom, which just isn’t the same, as we all know. She was incredibly bored.
D21 didn’t get a senior prom. At winter break, she took her unworn prom dress back to college, excited to wear it to the underclassmen formal. That formal was Saturday, while she was quarantined. Ugh.
Finally today she tested negative and was able to get out.
In better news for her, she was hired by the admissions office to be a full-time summer tour guide, so won’t be coming home. She’ll be an RA next school year.
D has been in the Covid dorm for a few days. It is nicer than her regular shared dorm room. Orders online from food service and they deliver it (a day’s worth of food at once). Only feeling a bit ill now. Fortunate that finals don’t start for another 10 days or so.
That just stinks. Period. Everything about it. I’m glad it’s over. Does Hamilton test everyone regularly? (I think she’s at Hamilton!)
Even Bowdoin, where it’s been super strict, doesn’t have kids do that. They now isolate in their rooms and can even pick up their food through a separate entrance at the dining hall. They can go outside whenever they want as long as they mask. It’s been a little tricky with roommates but dorms are nice there and many rooms include a sitting room with a couch so roommates just find a couch to sleep on for some time. The kids seem to be working it out.
And you know, on campuses that don’t surveillance test, a lot of kids get Covid or are asymptomatic and do not test. If they are feeling sick, I bet some avoid testing and just try to stay away from their friends just like they would if they had a bad flu. Not saying it’s right but that’s absolutely happening. I mean I don’t test myself every time I think I have sniffles either!
Congrats on the tour guide and RA assignment. Good for her!
I am sorry to hear she had to be quarantined for so long. Does the school say why they aren’t following CDC guidelines?
My sons school had none of these restrictions and he has never been tested for covid at school and I don’t think they had different outcomes to some of the strictest school.
Congratulations to her on the summer job and RA position next yr.
I believe CDC guidelines say that you’re supposed to test negative before you stop isolation, no? Or are you allowed out at day five no matter your test result?
Colgate does the same thing and Bowdoin too. Isolation doesn’t stop until you have a negative test. When our kids had Covid over break, they were negative four days after symptoms but I’m hearing about some students still positive at day 13. I hate that rule. Make it five days and then let them out but have them mask for whatever the CDC guidelines are.
According to our public health department, you can come out of isolation 5 days from your first day of symptoms and you don’t need a negative test. Those are the rules followed by the public schools here.
Wow! I don’t know a single person who tested negative on a rapid test at Day 5. I recently just finished isolating myself and I didn’t get a fully negative test until Day 10 (the line was very light on Day 9, but it was still there). Here they say that if you absolutely can’t stay in after Day 5 and don’t test negative, you at least need to be wearing a mask around others. At UCLA you have to test negative to come out of isolation (after 5 days minimum). Otherwise you stay until 10. Students on campus are still required to submit PCR tests 2x per week.
Yes, that’s CDC guidelines. 5 days isolate, 5 additional days masked, no negative test needed. That’s they way my daughter’s school is now doing it. AND the kids get outside time every day even in isolation. Her friend just tested positive and they were able to see him when he was outside (from a distance, he was masked, etc). Better than nothing.
Yes,she’s at Hamilton. Hamilton PCR tests everyone twice per week, Tuesday and Thursday. They also provide easily available rapid tests. She PCR tested negative on a Thursday, then felt kind of sick on Friday evening, and rapid tested positive on a Saturday.
Williams is following the CDC guidelines. According to my D, most students aren’t testing negative until day 8 or 9. They are in the midst of a surge. This variant seems to be more severe than the Dec/Jan variant. From what I’ve heard from D and friends with kids at other schools, many students are still pretty weak after getting out of isolation.
Bowdoin same. At one point last week, they had something like 190 kids with covid. Seems to be settling down now. Had an indoor concert that was planned to be outside but then it rained. They think that was the event that caused the spike.
Wow, 190! I don’t think it got that high at Williams. I haven’t heard if they’ve identified a possible superspreader event, but mask restrictions had just been lifted. Needless to say, they’re back to masks being required everywhere except in dorms and while eating.
D is supposed to test for Covid again tomorrow (five days after last exposure) but she is holed up in a hotel several miles from either the campus or the Med Express urgent care that gets quicker test results. The diagnosing physician told her she should quarantine for the flu for seven days (even though that’s not the school policy for flu). She may have to Uber while síck to test for Covid, which doesn’t seem fair to the unsuspecting Uber driver! And while she may “only” have the flu, she was running a temp of 103 yesterday. Instead of resting, she spent the entire afternoon trying to get the Med Express to release her flu diagnosis to the dean of student affairs so that the dean could release a statement of medical emergency to all her professors so they would know she was legitimately sick. She finally got that through just minutes before the dean’s closing time (It seems Med Express was swamped with sick people). At 9 PM she heard from her stats professor that she wouldn’t be expected in class at 9 AM to take an exam…she can do it when she’s feeling better. Thank heavens something good is happening! I hope she’s sound asleep right now.
Yeah. My coworkers have taken well behind 5 days to test negative. S21 tested on day 5 but he was in his isolation hotel til day 7 when he had zero symptoms and tested negative. He couldn’t get an uber to get back to his dorm fast enough.
