Holly Shaum, Staff Writer
As COVID-19 cases drop throughout the county, the College eases their mask mandates in the majority of campus spaces. According to the College’s community task-force, the campus’ daily positivity rate is 1.5%, and the weekly positivity rate for campus was 2.7% from Sept. 11 to Sept. 17. Due to these positivity rates, masks will be required in the Longbrake Student Wellness Center and College of Wooster transportation. Additionally, faculty and staff may continue to require masks in their classrooms and personal office as they deem necessary. Any students that receive a positive result when testing should make plans to isolate in place and contact Longbrake Student Wellness Center either through their individual health portal or call 330-263-2319. In order to gain a broader perspective on how the campus body has dealt with COVID-19, the Voice interviewed several students that had recently spent time in isolation.
Henry Pellegrin ’23
How many days did you spend in isolation?
“Starting Friday evening so… six days.”
Do you live in a double or a single?
“Double.”
What was the situation like with your roommate? How did you go about dealing with one person being sick?
“My roommate was asked to just stay in the room. He went about his day normally. We’d wear masks whenever we were in the room at the same time. Though he has a girlfriend who lives near us so he thought it best if he spent the night with his girlfriend, and so he was technically still living [in our room], but he didn’t spend that much time there.”
Did you have a friend or somebody who was a “point of contact” person to bring you food? How did that situation work for you?
“So, you get $50 a day for Grubhub. [I] occasionally had some friends drop some stuff off outside my door that they picked up in the C-Store, but I think that only happened once or twice.”
So overall, [it took you] about 6 days to recover?
“Well, here’s the thing, I was asymptomatic the whole time. I tested negative on my second day of quarantine. I tested negative every day after that [but] they wouldn’t let me out. They made me wait till Day 6.”
Were you able to catch up on coursework?
“I was able to stay on top of it. My professors were pretty understanding and luckily it was kind of an off week for me in terms of stressors and commitments, so that was nice… it kind of lined up that I didn’t have that much due.”
Bowen Ault ’25
How many days did you spend in isolation?
“I was in quarantine for about 6 days.”
If you have a roommate(s), how did you go about dealing with one person being sick?
“My roommate and I tested positive on the same day, so we quarantined in our dorm room in Holden.”
Did you have a friend or somebody who was a “point of contact” person to bring you necessities?
“I was able to get a friend to grab deliveries for me for most of my meals but had to go and grab them myself a few times.”
Did the College provide you with a Grubhub account for meals?
“I was provided with a Grubhub account for meals, and the college was in close contact with me to make sure it functioned correctly.”
What was the severity of your symptoms?
“I never ran a fever and mostly just had some phlegm. If my roommate hadn’t tested positive, I would’ve assumed I had a cold and gone on with my life.”
Were you able to catch up on coursework?
“I was able to do all my work online without much difficulty.”
The Wooster Voice 