COLUMBIA, S.C. — The University of South Carolina is leasing out two hotels near campus to house on-campus students that are under quarantine due to COVID-19.
Since students are not allowed to leave their hotel rooms under quarantine, meals and health check ups come to them and they do everything else, like classes and socializing, virtually.
"Students are provided with their meals, snacks, water and a sports drink every day," said Stacey Bradley, the Senior Associate Vice President for Student Affairs at USC.
If a student has been in close contact with a positive case, they typically quarantine for 14 days. If a student tests positive for COVID-19, they typically spend 10 days in isolation, according to Bradley.
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Bradley said they stay at SpringHill Suites, which has 132 rooms, or the Holiday Inn Express on Washington Street, which has 90 rooms. The hotels are for students that live on-campus but Bradley said an off-campus student can request to quarantine there, too.
USC announced a new contract with the Holiday Inn on Friday and said no USC students are staying there yet. Both hotel websites say they use hospital grade disinfectant and have strict cleaning protocols.
Bradley said students fill out a survey every morning to let Health Services know if they have any coronavirus-related symptoms. "Nurses respond if they do, or nurses respond if they don’t respond to the survey; so there’s follow up regardless," she said.
Resident mentors check in with the students virtually and they’re encouraged to join a peer support group to help them get through the process, Bradley said. If an isolated or quarantined student has any in-person classes, they attend them virtually.
"Professors are making accommodations," Bradley said. "A perfect example is our first year students: A lot of our University 101 classes are in person and there is lecture capture and virtual capability for all those classes so students can plug in."
According to USC’s COVID-19 dashboard, 94 percent of their designated quarantine space is available. That includes their on-campus designated spaces at Bates West and the National Advocacy Center. They currently have 90 active student cases, which is much lower than previous weeks.
Bradley said the university re-evaluates their contracts with the hotels about every two weeks to ensure they have enough rooms to accommodate a possible surge in cases.