By Camron Stafford
Dominican residents living in quarantine or isolation dorm rooms had a tough time adjusting to their temporary living quarters after they were exposed or tested positive to the COVID-19 virus.
Senior Margaret McClure and junior Hannah Anderson both spent time at Dominican’s Priory campus. McClure spent less than 48 hours quarantining and Anderson spent 10 full days in isolation.
McClure tested negative for COVID-19 after being exposed to someone with the virus and moved into Priory on Sept. 24. She stayed at Priory until Sept. 26, before moving to a house of a friend who also had to quarantine.
For McClure, moving in with a friend was an easy choice.
“No one wants to live at Priory in general, so you wouldn’t want to have to stay there for 14 days and never leave your room,” she said.
Anderson was tested for COVID-19 Sept. 22 and received her result Sept. 23 late at night. On Sept 24, Anderson was given an hour to get her things from her Murray dorm room ready before she was driven down Division Street to the Priory campus, on a Dominican bus. The bus driver was wearing what seemed to be a hazmat suit when she was picked up.
“It was like a 2319 from ‘Monsters Inc.’,” Anderson said
Dominican administrators say they aimed to serve everyone well.
“Our goal to maintain a safe and healthy living environment for students on campus – especially those who have been directed to quarantine or isolate,” said Meagan Mitchell, the assistant dean of students and director of student life.
McClure’s and Anderson’s rooms differed from each other’s. McClure’s room contained a bed, desk, mini fridge, microwave, shower, mirror, and bathroom. Anderson’s room was much smaller and only had a bed, desk, sink, mirror. The communal bathrooms and showers were down the hall and the fridge and microwave were in the hallway. She was unaware of anyone else living in her hallway, she said.
To eat each day, both McClure and Anderson had to fill out a form for what they wanted to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Both said the food they received was from the dining hall.
“The food was cold, every day,” Anderson said.
Mitchell, however, pointed out that warm food was brought to students daily. Students received bags of snacks that would last up to three days, she said. Neither were allowed to order food from any delivery services.
Anderson and McClure were both told they were not allowed to leave their rooms. The window in Anderson’s room did not open, she said.
“There was no way to get fresh air and we were not allowed outside time,” Anderson said.
The first time Anderson went to shower, she said the water was brown. The same thing happened with the sink. Anderson complained and she said that authorities told her, “there is nothing we can do, the pipes have not had enough water run through them.”
When their trash was full, they were supposed to leave it outside the door. Anderson’s trash took five days to be picked up, it started attracting ants. After notifying authorities about the ant’s she was brough ant traps, she said.
“I know they passed it too because they had to bring me my food, at one point there were three bags of trash outside my door.,” Anderson said.
Both McClure and Anderson are out of quarantine and isolation. McClure returned to campus Oct. 6 and Anderson returned Oct. 3.
“During the entire process everybody we came in contact with through Dominican didn’t know the proper procedures, but my professors were understanding and have allowed me to makeup missed work,” McClure said, reflecting on her time in quarantine.
Mitchell said the quarantine and isolation measures were in place to protect the campus community.
“We do our best to ensure students are as comfortable as possible during this challenging time,” Mitchell said.
cstafford@my.dom.edu
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