A Notre Dame student described a “scary” quarantine experience after testing positive for coronavirus, saying it was so bad that even her parents had to get involved.
“It is kind of scary being here alone without any information,” the student told WSBT News. “My number one thing is they did not tell me how long I’m going to be here for.” (RELATED: Notre Dame President Maskless At White House, Students Demand Resignation)
#BREAKING: One @NotreDame student describes her quarantine experience as “scary” and “stressful.”
Why she had to get her parents involved, and why she describes it as “incredibly disorganized.” pic.twitter.com/F6OchqfALo
— Tolly Taylor WSBT (@TollyTaylor) August 19, 2020
The student said that she woke up Saturday with a fever of 101.7 and decided to fill out Notre Dame’s “daily wellness check.” She received a red pass, meaning that the student got a direct number for the campus coronavirus hotline.
She got through to the coronavirus hotline at 1:18 PM – 2 hours after she had started calling. The student said that a person told her that they would call her later that day, but nobody ever called her.
Sunday morning, the student woke up and still had a fever, so she began calling the hotline again. She said that nobody answered her calls, so she made an appointment at a local Rite-Aid to get tested.
Once the student was finally able to get through to Notre Dame’s coronavirus hotline, a nurse told her “oh, actually we don’t do rapid testing. Our turnaround time is like 2 to 5 days.” Notre Dame Vice President Paul Browne had told WSBT News Friday that “test results tend to be turned around quickly, within a day or 2.” (RELATED: Notre Dame Has 39 Football Players Out Because Of Coronavirus)
The student said that a Notre Dame doctor called her back a few minutes after she spoke with the nurse and said that she could get a rapid test at 12:30 PM Sunday. She should expect to test positive and be quarantined, the doctor said.
“So my roommate had suggested, pack a bag in case,” the student said. Later that Sunday, she went to the school’s testing site with her packed bag and tested positive.
After about an hour of waiting, the student said someone gave her an envelope with a key and apartment number, as well as a clear plastic bag with 2 bottles of water, some salt packets, Tylenol, and tissues. She was then placed in a van with other students who had tested positive and driven to an apartment complex for quarantine.
When the student arrived at the apartment, she said it was empty and had no food. Her father had to call the school and ask where her food was, and it took until 8:30 Sunday night for any food to be delivered to her.
The apartment was also missing several items like dishes to cook with, plates, utensils, and a shower curtain.
“I just feel like the university is not doing a great job of being transparent with us,” the student said.
“The University has a team monitoring the students in isolation and quarantine to make sure they are receiving food deliveries, any maintenance issues are addressed, etc,” Browne said in a statement to WSBT News.
The student told WSBT News in an update that she found out that she will be in the apartment for 10 days. Food delivery has continued to be an issue, including delivering the student meat despite the school knowing she is a vegetarian.