free
MONDAY
sept. 21, 2020 high 66°, low 39°
t h e i n de p e n de n t s t u de n t n e w s pa p e r of s y r a c u s e , n e w yor k |
dailyorange.com
C • Taking orders
N • Remembrance Week
S • Up to standard
SU junior Heavyn Jones launched a takeout business on Friday. She prepares homecooked meals and sells them to other students Page 7
The university’s annual Remembrance Week in October will shift online amid the coronavirus pandemic and last throughout the year. Page 3
SU is allocating $6 million to add accessibility measures to the Carrier Dome that will comply with the ADA. The renovations include enhanced restrooms and elevators. Page 12
Students who contracted COVID-19 frustrated with SU’s response
coronavirus
Students in Day Hall test positive By Abby Weiss
asst. digital editor
Students who had to isolate after testing positive for the coronavirus said university officials they spoke with were often uninformed about their situation, leaving students unsure of their next steps. emily steinberger photo editor
Students who tested positive for COVID-19 describe confusing, uncomfortable isolation
By Chris Hippensteel news editor
A
fter almost a week in isolation with virtually no human contact or trips outside, Caroline Noone was ready to leave. Noone, a Syracuse University student who tested positive for the coronavirus, had just received confirmation from government authorities that she had completed her mandatory isolation period and was free to go. Noone, ecstatic to finally leave one of SU’s isolation facility at Skyhall 1, packed her things and went to the lobby, where she had arranged for a friend to meet her. But when Noone tried to step outside Skyhall 1 for the first time in days, a security guard stopped her. SU had not yet confirmed that Noone could leave, the guard said. “At that point, I was losing it inside,” said Noone, a junior environmental interior design major. “I was like, ‘I need to get out of here.’” After getting in touch with university officials, Noone confirmed she was able to leave the facility. But she’s just one of several students who, having contracted COVID19 while at SU, went through what they described as a stressful isolation period made worse by lagging communication between SU and government officials. see isolation page 4
Those of us who were still quarantined, we would wear masks in front of each other. We just couldn’t relax in our own personal space.” Parizeh Malik su student
Three Syracuse University students living on the eighth floor of Day Hall have tested positive for the coronavirus, a university official announced Sunday. SU required all of the floor’s residents to receive COVID-19 testing Sunday afternoon at a testing station on the Quad. All residents will have to quarantine in their rooms until the university receives test results, likely within 24 to 48 hours, according to an SU News release. “We are working quickly to implement all facets of our response protocol to ensure any trace of COVID-19 is quickly detected and contained to limit potential spread,” said Vice Chancellor Mike Haynie, who has spearheaded SU’s COVID-19 response, in a campus-wide email. Residents of Day Hall’s eighth floor were required to receive testing no later than 4 p.m. Sunday. SU also performed room checks in Day Hall starting at 4:30 p.m. Meals were delivered to the residents in brown bags later in the afternoon. The university is not requiring Day Hall residents who do not live on the eighth floor to quarantine, Haynie said. But the university encourages all the building’s residents to receive COVID-19 testing out of an “abundance of caution.” Sunday marks the first time SU has placed a dorm on lockdown for confirmed COVID-19 cases among residents. SU’s wastewater testing program has identified traces of the virus in Ernie Davis Hall and Sadler Hall, but no students in those dorms tested positive after the university performed immediate testing. The quarantine protocol for residents of Day Hall’s eighth floor is similar to the measures SU implemented after identifying traces of the virus in the wastewater of Ernie Davis. Ernie Davis residents had to quarantine for a day while the university processed their tests. The university has also seen an uptick in COVID-19 cases among students since Labor Day weekend. SU reported nine cases on Friday among students in central New York and 30 active cases among SU students and employees in central New York. “We will continue to communicate with you directly and often as we work through the process of tracking and isolating any possible infection within this community of students,” the university’s public health team said. akweiss@syr.edu