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Rising COVID cases prompt new isolation policy at University of Maryland

If a student tests positive, they'll be required to isolate at their permanent home — not in their on-campus housing at College Park — for five days.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — As COVID-19 cases rise again in the DMV, the University of Maryland has released a new policy to protect students.

If a student tests positive, they'll be required to isolate at their permanent home — not in their on-campus housing at College Park — for five days.

If they can't get to their permanent home, they'll have to stay in another off-campus location, like a hotel.

The university does offer a list of nearby hotels here.

"I think that overall the policy is for the better, it keeps students safe," student Matthew Nashed said. "I think if you test positive, then you know you probably shouldn't be around other people and for you to be in the dorm it could probably lead to probably a mass spread. So, I think it's a good policy."

The policy says that students will be required to work with their professors to keep up with assignments.

Some students worry that will prove to be a real handicap for out-of-state students.

"I'm only an hour and a half away, but even I thought to myself if class would be kind of be inaccessible, and stuff like that, if I had to go home, if I got COVID," student Elizabeth Rand said.

Students are allowed to end isolation on day six if they meet all three of these conditions:

  1. They have been fever free without fever-reducing medication (like Tylenol or Advil) for 24 hours AND

  2. Their symptoms have resolved or are steadily improving AND

  3. They test negative with a rapid antigen test on day 6 of isolation. 

Once students meet those conditions and return, they’ll be required to wear a mask around others for five more days and are advised not to eat in restaurants or with others.

They’ll be able to request a sick meal to eat in their room instead.

Some students worry this policy could have the opposite of its intended effect of reducing the spread.

"It may lead to people hiding positive cases from people they know, they trust and it could eventually lead to a further spread of the virus," student Ashwin Nathan said.

The University of Maryland discontinued its COVID case dashboard in April 2021, but the state of Maryland's tracker shows a steady increase in cases as fall approaches -- with Prince George's County's case rate sitting a bit higher than the state average.

Numbers, however, are nowhere near any peaks seen throughout the pandemic.

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