Ohio University announces new housing advisory system

Students will receive notification if their residence hall is placed on the color-coded alert list

In response to the increasing numbers of positive COVID cases reported in residence halls on the Athens campus, Ohio University has implemented a Housing Advisory plan.

“Our plan was developed in consultation with Ohio’s other public universities, and in particular with advice from our colleagues at Miami University, where a similar plan was implemented earlier in 2020,” the president’s special assistant for public health operations Gillian Ice said. “This system will help to reinforce healthy behaviors in our residential students as they are made aware of escalating cases within their resident halls. Our hope is that this will help alleviate the need to quarantine entire residence halls moving forward.”

This Housing Advisory System runs concurrently with the Isolation Housing provided for students living on campus who (1) tested positive for COVID-19 or (2) are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and are awaiting test results, as well as Quarantine Housing for students living on campus who (3) have traveled to campus from travel advisory risk areas, or (4) have been classified as high-risk through direct exposure to COVID-19 by a contact tracer.

Residence Hall Risk Levels

Students in residence halls will be tested every week (Note: Due to winter break, there will be no testing between Dec. 12 and Jan. 3). As infection rates increase, students may be tested more frequently at the discretion of the University. 

Similar to the State of Ohio, OHIO is using a color-coded alert system to identify the risk of COVID-19 outbreaks in residence halls. Our color-coded system was developed in consultation with the special assistant to the president for public health and local public health officials.

Students will receive email notification if their residence hall is placed on the color-coded alert list.

• Level 1: Yellow – There are no known positive cases in your residence hall in the last seven days. Please exercise caution to avoid bringing the infection back to your hall. Practice physical distancing, wash your hands often, and wear a face covering at all times when outside your room, whether indoors or out. 
• Level 2: Orange – 4.9 percent or less of the residents in your residence hall have tested positive in the last seven days. Follow public health guidelines to avoid becoming infected or unknowingly infecting others. Practice physical distancing, wash your hands often, and wear a face covering at all times when outside your room, whether indoors or out. 
• Level 3: Red – 5-9.9 percent of the residents in your residence hall have tested positive in the last seven days, but there is not yet evidence of a cluster. You are at a significant risk of becoming infected and must take aggressive action to limit visitors and time spent with others outside of your roommate, practice physical distancing, wash hands often, and wear face coverings at all times, indoors and out. 
• Level 4: Purple – There is a COVID-19 outbreak in your residence hall and those living there are at a very high risk of becoming infected. OHIO will implement a Remain-in-Room plan designed to stop the spread of the infection for each residential floor at this level. An outbreak is defined as greater than or equal to 10 percent of building residents testing positive during the last seven days, and evidence of an outbreak.

Students living in a residence hall with a Level 4: Purple designation will be advised via email and floor section meeting with their Housing and Residence Life Hall professional staff, and placed on a Remain-in-Room plan until it is determined through our testing protocol that spread has been contained. We will update you when the RIR plan has been lifted, but you can expect this to be in place for up to 14 days.

When a residence hall is placed under the Remain-in-Room plan, students should not leave the residence hall room except for essential matters (e.g. bathroom, medical appointments, COVID testing as required, or emergencies, contactless food delivery, breaks to spend time outside by yourself while wearing a face covering and practicing physical distancing). Additionally: 

• No visitors will be allowed. This includes other members of the hall visiting one other’s rooms.
• Residents should not leave the building to attend classes in person or participate in other face-to-face activities, such as going to work. 
• Do not use residence hall lounges/common rooms, laundry rooms, study rooms, or common kitchens. 
• Wear your face coverings at all times when you are not in your room, except as needed to use the restroom facilities. 
• Spend as little time in restroom facilities as possible.
• Communicate regularly with your COVID Campus Liaison (CCL) and the Ohio Health Case Managers.

QUARANTINE

If the Remain-in-Room Plan is not effective in controlling COVID-19 transmission, the Athens City-County Health Department may order a mandatory quarantine for all residents.

The above steps are essential to contain and halt the transmission of COVID-19. 

“With full participation, we believe this plan will be an important tool to help curb the prevalence of disease within our community,” Ice said. “Additionally, we hope our health advisory system will help students better understand the potential for spread.”

For more information about the housing advisory system, visit https://www.ohio.edu/coronavirus/housing-advisory-system.