Empty dormitory rooms like this one at Utah State University will soon be available for self-isolation by individuals who test positive for Coronavirus.
LOGAN – Local health officials and Utah State University are teaming up to provide isolation spaces for individuals who test positive for the Coronavirus.
“We’re starting to see world-wide infection patterns for the Coronavirus shift to family units,” said Dr. Allan D. Anderson, speaking via ZOOM to the members of the Logan City Council on April 7.
That means, the Logan-based surgeon explained, that slowing the spread of the Coronavirus depends not just on isolating individuals who test positive from the community, but also separating them from their families.
“That’s especially important,” Anderson added, “when members of an infected person’s family might be in a higher risk category for serious illness from the disease.”
To resolve this problem, several local physicians and officials of the Bear River Health Department reached out to Utah State University officials, who have been very cooperative, according to Anderson.
“We’re still working out some details,” the doctor said, “but we should be able to begin using some USU dormitory rooms for self-isolation soon.”
USU spokesperson Emilie Wheeler confirmed that the university is close to finalizing its role in providing the isolation accommodations, which she described as private or semi-private rooms where medical care would not be provided.
“We have to ensure,” she explains, “that this plan would not put anyone in the campus community at additional risk and would have minimal impact on students who are still finishing coursework.”
Anderson described USU dormitory rooms as ideally suited for long-term isolation since they are largely unoccupied and have separate bedrooms and baths, with a shared kitchen.
Wheeler added that USU Housing is now at 30 percent capacity, because some 2,000 students have left campus to complete the spring semester coursework online from home.
“We are also working with Justin Hamilton and his coalition of local restaurants who have agreed to provide meal service for people in the isolation rooms,” Anderson added.
The option of isolating in the USU dormitory will be available to individuals who test positive for the Coronavirus who are asymptomatic or have only mild symptoms, but are still contagious. The option will also be available to some individuals while awaiting Coronavirus test results.
The first step in the isolation process will be obtaining a Coronavirus test at the Intermountain Health Care North Clinic in Hyde Park, Anderson says. If an individual tests positive, he or she will be contacted by the Bear River Health Department and the option to isolate in the USU dormitory rooms will be offered if necessary depending on the person’s circumstances.
Although screening by a doctor is still required prior to Coronavirus testing, Anderson said testing in Cache Valley is “ramping up dramatically.” That makes the necessity of isolation spaces like the ones being offered by USU particularly critical.
Anderson added that members of the Cache Valley Lodging Association are offering similar isolation accommodations at local hotels for first responders who feel the need to self-isolate from their families.
Anderson’s report drew praise from the members of the Logan City Council, who noted that local physicians and health officials had already been coordinating to address the isolation-space issue long before the Utah Coronavirus Task Force recognized the problem in early April.