At Northwestern, some students in quarantine and isolation housing learned this week they might have a roommate move into their quarantine dorm, as cases rise. The university’s seven-day positivity rate was 5.54% Friday, with more than 900 cases reported.
Students line up at the COVID-19 testing site at Jacobs Center on the Northwestern University campus in Evanston on Jan. 7, 2022.
At Northwestern, some students in quarantine and isolation housing learned this week they might have a roommate move into their quarantine dorm, as cases rise. The university’s seven-day positivity rate was 5.54% Friday, with more than 900 cases reported, according to its COVID dashboard. “I just don’t know how they can justify giving us roommates while simultaneously requesting total isolation,” Rios said. “Every minute that I’m here, it’s just more frustrating.”Rios tested positive for COVID in two at-home tests on Thursday, after previously testing negative multiple times earlier in the week. He packed bags of pillows, school work and snacks to move into Northwestern’s designated quarantine and isolation housing for students living on campus.
Residence halls at Northwestern and other Illinois universities are open, but in-person classes are not expected to resume until later in January. “Is Northwestern going to try and do as a normal school year at the expense of giving everyone COVID, or am I going to have an online school year after Northwestern told us to come back on campus?” Rios said. “It’s a dynamic situation, but why are students getting brought back to bear the brunt of it?”