A recent uptick in COVID-19 cases on campus has left some students living in residence concerned about their safety.
In early March, Student Housing and Community Services (SHCS) confirmed exposures on various floors of first-year residence buildings.
This came a month after UBC made rapid testing available to all first-year students living in residence. The university has declined to comment on residence COVID-19 cases.
UBC says public health doesn’t let the university publish official numbers of positive cases on campus. The number of students being transferred into quarantine also remains confidential. However, speculation about large numbers of cases have circulated in online student forums.
Quarantining on campus
First-year Liz contracted COVID-19 from a friend while living at Orchard Commons. She said that after alerting UBC of her positive test result, she was transferred to Walter Gage along with several others who had either tested positive or were awaiting test results.
Liz’s last name has been excluded to avoid stigma around contracting COVID-19.
Liz said she felt that UBC was not prepared for the sudden influx of students coming to Walter Gage. Along with not being given a means of transportation to the Gage building or a packing list, Liz said she was given extremely thin sheets on her first night.
She also said she was not provided with napkins or a place to do laundry and noted a general lack of effort from the university. She said she felt like Vancouver Coastal Health was giving her more attention than UBC, who she felt was doing “the bare minimum.”
“I just feel like the school has just taken these sick kids and shoved them into this asylum-looking place,” Liz said. “And then they’re just like, ‘Chill for two weeks, try not to die.’”
Associate VP of SHCS Andrew Parr said in a statement that UBC has worked together with public health to meet health and safety guidelines.
“Are occasional errors made? Yes. When this occurs do we work quickly and smartly to adjust and correct? Yes,” Parr said. “Are student residents equally responsible to contribute to and support a safe environment for all? Yes.”
‘Nonexistent’ physical distancing at Orchard Commons
Niko Reveley lived in Orchard Commons for the majority of the 2020/21 school year. She initially chose to live in residence because her hometown on Salt Spring Island often had power outages and she felt that living on campus would provide a more educational environment.
But Reveley decided to move out of Orchard in February because she felt unsafe living there. She cited instances of large parties, a lack of physical distancing in communal spaces and Student Housing’s failure to enforce COVID-19 rules effectively.
“I would just hear parties outside and there’s [constant] breaking of social distancing,” Reveley said. “So it’s really hard to watch without UBC doing anything.”
Reveley said that she talked to a residence advisor about a specific instance regarding a violation of COVID-19 regulations on her floor, but says it “never really got dealt with.”
She said that students she knew were holding large parties never received any serious punishments, and were instead given “a slap on the wrist.” In February, University RCMP fined students for partying, but little additional news has come out about punishments for gathering, either university administered or otherwise.
SHCS said in February that it had strengthened dining hall protocols to adjust to the influx of students, but Reveley said distancing protocols were “nonexistent” in common spaces like Orchard’s Open Kitchen. Reveley said she witnessed people spending time in large social bubbles and without masks. Tables were also placed close together.
“At one point, I realized that people I know … were being unsafe also lived on my floor,” Reveley said. “And so I [thought], ‘I don’t really know if I can stay here any longer. It doesn’t feel like a safe environment.’”
Liz said she felt that UBC has not done enough to stop the spread of COVID-19 on campus, saying “there are a lot of people at risk of being sick right now.”
Reveley said she wants UBC to be more transparent about the number of cases on campus, the risk of exposure posed to student residents and clarity on COVID-19 protocols.
“I’m just extremely disappointed in the lack of communication from UBC generally regarding the [COVID-19 cases] in first-year residence, because it shows a lack of concern for the well-being of the population.”
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