{"id":35981,"date":"2020-11-15T14:32:19","date_gmt":"2020-11-15T21:32:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?p=35981"},"modified":"2022-07-05T09:57:50","modified_gmt":"2022-07-05T15:57:50","slug":"college-students-home-for-the-holidays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/college-students-home-for-the-holidays\/","title":{"rendered":"In the time of COVID-19: How college students can return home safely for the holidays"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Merrill Rollhaus, left, and a friend on campus. Photo courtesy of Merrill Rollhaus.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Before Merrill Rollhaus heads to class or to lacrosse practice, she grabs a mask from the colorful stash hanging on the wall right next to her dorm room door. She has no allegiance to one but chooses from a menagerie of color: the tie-dye, bright red, blue plain surgical mask, the sparkly turquoise or shimmery mint green one depending on her mood.<\/p>\n

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Menagerie of masks. Photo courtesy of Merrill Rollhaus.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWhy not have a little fun with it,\u201d said Rollhaus, a freshman at Denison University outside Columbus, Ohio, where strict regulations have mostly kept the coronavirus at bay. From day one, the small, liberal arts college instituted random testing, temperature checks and serious consequences for offenders. So wearing a mask pretty much all the time doesn\u2019t faze Rollhaus. It\u2019s so commonplace, when she and her roommates watch a movie, maskless actors look out of place.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are like, \u2018why aren\u2019t they wearing masks?\u2019\u201d said Rollhaus, a 2020 Colorado Academy graduate.<\/p>\n

Rollhaus is coming home for an extended holiday break that will last from Thanksgiving to well beyond New Year\u2019s. And like everything else in 2020, it won\u2019t be a simple homecoming. Her mom, Catherine, is setting up Merrill\u2019s room so when her daughter comes home, she can go right into quarantine.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to be super careful,\u201d said Catherine.<\/p>\n

Denison is also providing students with a COVID-19 test that they can take when they arrive at home. Once Rollhaus arrives, she\u2019ll take the test, mail it off, and hope for a negative result. In the meantime, she\u2019ll hang out in her room or if the weather is nice, outside.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be hard but this is the way it is,\u201d said Catherine.<\/p>\n

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Dr. Kartik Patel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

She\u2019ll make quarantine less painful in creative ways \u2013 notes, treats and flowers outside her door.<\/p>\n

Despite steps like these, Dr. Kartik Patel<\/a>, an internal medicine physician with UCHealth, warns parents not to rely exclusively on the take-home tests.<\/p>\n

\u201cNone of the tests are 100%,\u201d said Patel. \u201cThere are a lot of false-negative and positive results.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead, he recommends kids quarantine and monitor for any COVID-19 symptoms for two weeks. As for spending time with old high school pals, Patel once again urges caution. Many are returning from states where mask, social distance and other preventative policies are lax.

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Other tips:<\/strong><\/p>\n