A pilot program allowing students to have a maximum of one masked visitor in their dorm is slated to begin March 15, according to a March 5 message to students, pending compliance with COVID-19 guidelines.
The program — headed by the Coronavirus University Restart Team (CURT), University leadership, and SA — is contingent on students adhering to the UR Community Commitment.
Specifically, a minimum of 1,000 students per week would have to be tested. Though 1,000 is the minimum, UHS’s surveillance testing program is based on testing 2,000 students, both on- and off-campus, per week. According to the message, students are not currently meeting this requirement consistently, so they would have to better cooperate with University testing requirements and encourage their friends to do the same.
Additionally, the number of positive cases among River Campus and Eastman students would have to remain at 40 or under during the next two weeks. UHS will be monitoring case numbers over this time period.
Assuming that tests are frequent and COVID-19 cases few enough, the University currently plans to institute the new policy on March 15. Any student may invite another student to their dorm, provided that only one student is invited at a time, both remain masked for the entirety of the visit, and both are undergraduates residing in University housing.
If either testing or COVID-19 case numbers are unsatisfactory, the message said that CURT will reconsider the safety of the program.
