COLORADO SPRINGS — After a student at Colorado College tested positive for COVID-19, forcing 155 students to quarantine due their exposure, other area colleges and universities are keeping an eye on the situation.
Colorado College has established a policy that requires testing at regular intervals for students who live on and off campus. It also requires social distancing, but the student who tested positive did not follow that protocol when they arrived on campus on Aug. 14.
As a result of the positive test Colorado College’s contact tracing protocol is underway in conjunction with El Paso County Health. Colorado College administrators did not respond to News5’s requests for comment Monday.
But down the street at UCCS, move-in week means it's time to implement some new protocols.
"It's been exciting to see people back on campus,” UCCS spokesperson Jared Verner said. "If a student isn't wearing a mask in class, the professor has the ability to remove them from that class."
Social distancing is now written into the student code of conduct. They're also staying ready for anything.
"If a student does test positive, if they're a commuter student they'll be asked to stay home,” Verner said. “If they're an on-campus residence hall student, we do have a couple rooms set aside so that a student can move there and stay in isolation."
It's a similar story down I-25 at CSU Pueblo. "We pay very close attention to the things that are happening in North Carolina, and of course the things that are happening right up I-25 from us,” CSU Pueblo Chief Strategy Officer Dr. Donna Souder Hodge said.
"We look at what's happening in our community, what's happening in the state. Other institutions that are doing things sooner or differently than we are,” she said. They're hoping for the best, but staying ready for anything that may come.
"If there were to be some kind of outbreak, we'll be working closely with public health. There's a thousand different ways it could look like and we'll respond accordingly,” she said.
Back at Colorado College, those 155 students are being asked to stay in their rooms, except to use the restroom while wearing a mask. They're also restricting any traffic in or out of that dorm.
