Cal Poly students told to quarantine on campus over Thanksgiving. They went home instead
Instead of spending Thanksgiving at home with her family, Cal Poly freshman Emily Bodoh will mark the holiday alone in her dorm room.
The electrical engineering major is one of hundreds of students who were ordered to quarantine in place for 14 days due to a possible exposure to someone who tested positive for the coronavirus on her floor in the Yosemite residence hall.
“My whole floor is in quarantine right now,” she said. “But we were given the option to go home early.”
In fact, the vast majority of students under quarantine, including most of Bodoh’s floor, went home despite the quarantine-in-place order, according to the university and Bodoh, if they felt they could safely complete their quarantine.
It’s unclear whether many were formally cleared to do so, or just did anyway.
As of Nov. 24, 1,138 total students were quarantining on campus, while 28 were in isolation, according to Cal Poly.
On Nov. 25, those numbers had dropped to only 47 quarantining and 26 isolating, university spokesman Matt Lazier wrote in an email to The Tribune.
About 120 students not under COVID-19 orders plan to stay on campus over break, according to Lazier.
Cal Poly’s in-person classes ended Nov. 20, and all finals are fully online Nov. 30 through Dec. 4. The university’s academic break between the fall and winter quarters begins Dec. 5 for all students, a time when many go home for the holidays.
Those under quarantine orders are advised to not travel, according to the San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department. This lowers the risk of spreading the virus to others in the case that an individual placed in quarantine did contract COVID-19.
Additionally, isolation and quarantine orders from the county Public Health Department are enforceable by law.
Violations of such orders can also be addressed through Cal Poly’s student conduct process, Lazier told The Tribune.
“Student residents who have been ordered by Public Health to isolate or quarantine and who have not been cleared to travel are expected to remain in University Housing through the duration of their directive, even if it is stretching into break,” Lazier wrote. “Students in quarantine-in-place are strongly advised to not travel while under directive.”
What does ‘quarantine’ mean at Cal Poly?
Quarantine occurs when a student has been exposed to someone with COVID-19; quarantine-in-place is when an entire floor or section of a residence hall is asked to “stay in their rooms with the doors closed as much as possible,” according to Cal Poly.
Those under quarantine-in-place orders are allowed to leave their rooms briefly for food, mail pickup and other essential tasks, but are not allowed to attend in-person classes, according to the university.
Some students directed to quarantine or quarantine-in-place were allowed to go home for the holidays if cleared by the county Public Health Department and Campus Health and Wellbeing.
“The Public Health Department has consulted one-on-one with Cal Poly students, along with their parents and campus officials, in cases when students who are under quarantine orders wish to complete their quarantine at their family’s home rather than on campus,” county Public Health Department spokeswoman Tara Keenon wrote in an email to The Tribune.
“Depending on the specifics of each case, Public Health officials have provided approval for some students to travel alone in their vehicle directly from campus to a designated area of their family’s home where they have enough space to appropriately complete their quarantine,” Keenon wrote.
More than 1,000 students went home before their quarantine order was finished.
Bodoh said she doesn’t really blame the others under the quarantine order who went home early. She said she probably would have done the same if there weren’t community bathrooms in the residence hall she lives in.
“I’m pretty sure the person who got COVID this time is the same gender as me, which means we use the same shower and bathroom,” she said. “Last time, it was all guys, so I wasn’t really worried. But this time, it’s like, ‘Oh, I could actually have it.’ ”
Bodoh’s home in San Jose is too small to allow for her to have adequate space to quarantine, she said, so she’s riding it out on campus.
This isn’t the first time Bodoh has been ordered to quarantine-in-place, either, she said. Three times over the course of the 10-week-long fall quarter, Bodoh was quarantined to her dorm room for 14 days each, only allowed to go out to get food or a quick breath of fresh air.
The current quarantine-in-place order that Bodoh is under ended on Thanksgiving, so she will be able to go home to her family after then.
“Students in quarantine are not asked to get tested unless they develop symptoms,” Keenon wrote. “When a person is in quarantine, a negative test does not end or shorten the duration of their quarantine.”
Bodoh said her experiences with COVID-19 and quarantine orders has taken a lot away from her freshman year.
“It’s kind of sad, and I feel like I’m kind of wasting my tuition money,” she said. “I’m like a hardcore introvert. So I think I’m doing better than most people. But yeah, even for an introvert, it’s been hard.”
This story was originally published November 26, 2020 at 10:00 AM.
