Kailynn Bannon | Sept 16, 2020 11:15 a.m.
Staff Writer
As Florida Southern rolls back COVID-19 precautions in line with the CDC, students testing positive have to find a place to isolate themselves.
Many FSC students have reported catching colds and other mild illnesses during the first few weeks back on campus. While some students suggest they may just have the common cold, others are testing positive for COVID-19 weeks into returning to campus.
“I tested positive at the end of the second week of class,” sophomore Lily Soergel Harris said.
Soergel Harris left her campus housing, paying to stay in a hotel she found to quarantine in. The day she returned to campus, the policies changed.
“I had to leave my housing to quarantine, so I went to a different hotel for that time, and the day I came back they sent an email saying we didn’t have to leave anymore,” Soergel Harris said.
When asked to comment about her experience with COVID-19 isolation, Soergel Harris expressed her concern with the current precautions in place.
“I’m not surprised that it spread so quickly considering there are no more COVID restrictions in place,” “I tested positive at the end of the second week of class,” sophomore Lily Soergel Harris said.
Soergel Harris left her campus housing, paying to stay in a hotel she found to quarantine in. The day she returned to campus, the policies changed.
“I had to leave my housing to quarantine, so I went to a different hotel for that time, and the day I came back they sent an email saying we didn’t have to leave anymore,” Soergel Harris said.
According to the CDC, the most common symptoms of the Omicron BA.5 variant include sore throat, coughing, and nasal congestion. All these symptoms are similar to that of the common cold, which is why students may be unknowingly spreading the virus.
Soergel Harris experienced these cold symptoms along with a fever and fatigue after testing positive for COVID-19. She adds that she knows five other people who also tested positive going into the third week of the Fall semester.
Positive cases in Polk County have started rising again this summer after a significant decrease between March and April. Since COVID-19 rates have fallen, many establishments in the Lakeland area, including FSC, have relaxed their COVID-19 policies.
In late august, around the week orientation took place at FSC, around 20 percent of Polk County residents that tested for COVID received a positive result.
On Sept. 2, FSC sent out an email to the student body stating COVID-19 policy updates regarding isolation protocol.
The policy change states that a person living in a single unit may isolate themselves in their room for a period of five days. Meanwhile, a student living with a roommate can only isolate in their room if that roommate agrees and signs a waiver stating that they acknowledge and accept the risk. If the roommate does not agree, the student with a positive COVID-19 case must isolate off-campus.
According to the Isolation Preparedness Guide, released by FSC in the COVID Policy Update email, students have six hours to leave their housing to their off-campus place of isolation.
In addition to the isolation mandates, the FSCares program requires students to wear a mask for at least five days after self-quarantining.
“At times of increased cases, masks may also be strongly encouraged indoors by the College to limit the spread of the virus,” said FSC in the Isolation Preparedness Guide regarding a possible change to these requirements in the future.
“Nothing is more important to the Student Life team than ensuring our students have a fulfilling on-campus experience,” Dean of Students Mike Crawford said in a statement to The Southern. “We are slowly but surely moving toward ‘normal.’ All events will be in-person this semester.”
The FSCares team states that the levels of immunity in the area are the highest they’ve ever been, but students are still encouraged to take precautions to keep themselves and others safe.
“That said, COVID hasn’t gone away, and the well-being of our community must be our priority. As such, we will continue to follow the guideline set forth by the CDC,” Crawford said.
