Updated campus policies explain protocols for students exposed to COVID-19

Although Chapman University has offered free rapid COVID-19 testing to all students, faculty and staff since December 2020, administration tightened restrictions on who has access to this resource earlier this month under the guidance of Jacqueline Deats, director of the Student Health Center and an original member of Chapman’s COVID-19 Task Force. 

“Prior to this, (the Student Health Center) pretty much tested everybody who asked to be tested,” Deats said. “And there were some people who tested more than they probably needed to, but we wanted to be here to support the students, so that’s what we did.”

That protocol changed when the university’s long-time medical supply partner, Mckesson, was hit by a national testing kit shortage. The pharmaceutical company began allocating a predetermined amount of tests to their customers based on history of use, thereby restricting the quantity of tests Chapman can distribute.

However, Deats explained that because Chapman has administered a considerable number of COVID-19 tests — approximately 16,000 alone since Jan. 3 — their allocation is much higher relative to other customers. A $270,000 shipment of 30,000 testing kits will be arriving by Feb. 2, which Deats is hopeful will last for the month of February.

“We didn’t run out (of COVID-19 tests), and we still haven’t run out,” Deats said. “We have enough to complete what we’ve committed to, and we’re actively working on securing more every single day.”

According to a Jan. 19 announcement from Chapman President Daniele Struppa, the university’s current priority is offering rapid tests to those completing the return-to-campus protocols. The update was met with criticism by some students, like senior Jessica Almos, who feel this new policy denies the Chapman community of a much-needed resource. 

Almos, a theater studies and environmental science double major, said students should not be returning to campus without guaranteed, accessible testing moving forward.

“When I was out at my job outside of Chapman and in the real world, I was always like, ‘The one thing that Chapman is doing right is that they have accessible testing for all students,’” Almos said. “(Now), so many of us are running into (the problem) where we have a known exposure, but we don't have any symptoms — which could be that we either avoided COVID-19, or we are asymptomatic and can’t get tested.”

Deats clarified the few exceptions that exist for students, faculty and staff who seek testing outside of the return-to-campus requirements. 

“If anybody has symptoms, they will be tested,” Deats said. “If anybody has a known exposure, it depends on when they were exposed and what their vaccination status is at the time of exposure. For example, if you were exposed and you have a known close contact, but you are fully vaccinated and boostered, the recommendation if you are not having symptoms … would be to return in five to seven days for a test.”

The university will also continue to provide COVID-19 tests to unvaccinated individuals fulfilling the twice-weekly testing requirement and people who have returned from out-of-state travel. Deats said information like vaccination status and fulfillment of return-to-campus protocol appear with an individual’s demographic information when they check in at the testing site, allowing the staff to verify their eligibility for a test.

Chapman’s policy also states that individuals who are unable to get tested will not receive the daily screening survey, and therefore are not cleared to return to campus. In turn, the university urges students, faculty and staff who do not qualify for on-campus testing to seek out alternative providers, but it may not be that easy.

The federal government is offering free test kits in the mail upon request, but it still isn’t enough for high-density, low-income parts of Orange County. Almos said she requested a testing kit through this new program, but two weeks later, her request was denied.

After experiencing the inaccessibility of COVID-19 testing firsthand, Almos is fearful of a large influx in COVID-19 cases upon the Feb. 7 return to in-person classes for the spring semester. Struppa, on the other hand, told The Panther he “stopped being worried a long time ago.”

“There are probably going to be more cases, and some people are going to go into high alert,” Struppa said. “You remember what happened in August. We had several hundred cases the first few days, and people were just running for shelter. In fact, nothing happened. The numbers went down, and everything was fine.” 

Other new COVID-19 guidelines for the institution — in alignment with the California Department of Public Health — address protocols for isolation after a positive COVID-19 test or exposure.

All students, faculty and staff are required to isolate for at least five days following a positive test, regardless of vaccination status. But, unvaccinated individuals or people who have not received a booster shot can isolate for up to 10 days after an exposure alone, with or without symptoms.

Since Chapman is requiring students to receive a booster shot by Jan. 31, these guidelines will only apply to a small population on campus. For this group of individuals, the university is also hosting two booster shot clinics.

Both clinics will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., but one will be held in a tent behind the Student Health Center Jan. 31 and the other will occur inside the Orange Campus Testing Center (145 W. Sycamore) Feb. 5. Boosters of the Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech and Johnson & Johnson vaccines will all be offered.

Fully vaccinated individuals who have received a booster shot are not required to isolate following a COVID-19 exposure. The CU Safely Back guidelines recommend a test after the fifth day of exposure.

Norma Bouchard, Chapman’s executive vice president, provost and chief academic officer, said that since exposure doesn’t necessarily cause infection, isolation may not be an option after exposure for fully vaccinated students without symptoms.

“If students are infected and need to quarantine, they have to arrange alternative instructions with faculty,” Bouchard said in an email to The Panther. “If they are not infected, they are expected to be in class.”

Though Struppa emphasized he remains an adamant proponent of the in-person Chapman experience, he also conceded that virtual learning may be more readily used by professors this semester if they find it to be a helpful tool.

“Some teachers are a little more lenient, and if they find (Zoom) works well for them and it works well for the students, they might find some kind of accommodation,” Struppa said.

For students eligible to return to in-person classes the second week, surgical grade, disposable masks will be made available in all classrooms, according to Vice President of Facilities Management Rick Turner.

Click here to get signed up for one of Chapman’s upcoming booster clinics.