UC Davis student showing ‘mild symptoms’ of coronavirus. 3 roommates in isolation
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A student living in a dormitory at UC Davis has shown “mild symptoms” of coronavirus and has been placed in isolation, along with two other students living in the dorm, Yolo County and university officials said Thursday.
UPDATE: THE STUDENT’S TEST WAS NEGATIVE, OFFICIALS SAID SATURDAY
The student has a runny nose and a cough after potentially being exposed to someone with coronavirus, officials said. The individual is in isolation at a home off campus. The two other individuals in isolation are the student’s roommates and are not showing signs of the virus.
Officials declined to say whether the three are in isolation in Davis. They are isolating “out of an abundance of caution,” according to a university press release. The Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta is testing the student’s specimen for the virus and results are expected back in three to four days.
“Federal guidelines say (quarantine is) 14 days of isolation from the time of exposure,” said Dr. Ron Chapman, the Yolo County Health Officer.
The three people live in Kearney Hall on the UC Davis main campus.
The student showing symptoms has been off campus since Tuesday, said Michael Sheehan, an associate vice chancellor for student affairs. The other two were moved to the on-campus apartments Wednesday evening.
“We have a few apartments kept off line for a situation like this,” Sheehan said.
University officials are asking all students about their travel history and have not found any other students who came into contact with the virus, Schorzman said.
“I do want to emphasize in this county, in Yolo county, in the city of Davis, on the UC Davis campus, there is no evidence of the spread of the coronavirus,” Chapman said. “There is no evidence of the transmission of the virus.”
UC Davis students react to coronavirus
Only a few UC Davis students were wearing masks Thursday after the news was announced.
Outside Kearney Hall, the freshman dorm where the student being tested lives, other students hurried off to class or to workout.
Solene Tan, who’s from Shenzhen, China, did not know that a student in her dorm was being tested. When she was told by a reporter, she immediately put her hand over her mouth and gasped.
“My dad said not to worry but I think he is just trying to comfort me,” said Tan, 18, who came to UC Davis from China to study physics. Her father is a pediatrician there.
After learning three of her dormmates were being tested as a safety precaution, she said she was a little worried, but not severely.
None of her family or friends in China have been infected, she said. She last visited them in December.
Cecilia Garofoli said it was shocking to see “just the sight of seeing ‘Davis’ related to the coronavirus in any way,” she said
The UC Davis sophomore from Oakland said she’s been following the coronavirus in the news for weeks, but was surprised when she got an email from the chancellor around 2 p.m. Thursday saying three of her follow students were in isolation.
“It all happened so fast,” Garofoli, 19, said after finishing up a run with her friend. “But everything I’ve been reading has been saying to just be calm.”
Staying calm is harder for others though, like her friend who lives in Laben, the dorm next to Kearney.
“My friend was freaking out,” Garofoli said.
Sacramento hospital patient has coronavirus
The news comes after a patient at the UC Davis Medical Center tested positive for the virus, making the patient the nation’s first confirmed case of the coronavirus from “exposure in the community.” UC Davis Medical Center is located in Sacramento.
UC Davis clarified that no one has tested positive for the coronavirus in Yolo County, but that the university has increased disinfection practices throughout student housing and dining properties.
Two students from Los Rios Community Colleges may have been exposed to the patient who was diagnosed with coronavirus at UC Davis Medical Center. The students, one from American River College and the other from Cosumnes River College, are medical professionals, and were exposed to the individual off campus before the person tested positive.
Across the Sacramento region, school districts are preparing information for concerned parents who want to protect their children from the virus.
Several districts in Sacramento and Placer counties say they have been fielding calls from parents who want to know what schools are doing to protect students.
School districts are changing their own policies swiftly. Davis Joint Unified School District sent an email to parents on Wednesday saying all absences due to illness will be excused, and students will be able to make up missed work. Schools have already taken additional measures to disinfect rooms daily because of the flu season, and at least one area high school is monitoring the situation closely as 12 students plan to leave on a trip to Japan in mid-June.
California State University, Sacramento announced Wednesday it is suspending its study abroad program in South Korea amid the news of the disease spreading in the country. UC Davis announced it will suspend study abroad trips to China planned for the following quarter, and a number of Bay Area universities are reconsidering their study abroad programs as well.
This story was originally published February 27, 2020 at 2:26 PM with the headline "UC Davis student showing ‘mild symptoms’ of coronavirus. 3 roommates in isolation."
