Students Report Concerns With Harvard s Contact Tracing, Isolation Housing | News thecrimson.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thecrimson.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The coronavirus pandemic has brought a plethora of new measures to Harvardâs campus, including social distancing, mask wearing, and avoiding in-person gatherings. Among the most disruptive is leaving campus for isolation housing upon testing positive for the coronavirus.
Consistent with the fall semester, students living on campus self-administer three polymerase chain reaction tests â known as PCR tests â per week using kits designed by Color Genomics, a health and technology company. Students then drop off their tests in designated gray bins around campus. The Broad Institute processes their test kits, and Color Genomics notifies students of their test results on the companyâs online portal, often within a day.
At least 26 Harvard affiliates received positive Covid-19 test results between Jan. 25 and Feb. 5 â forcing at least some into isolation housing â that were later invalidated after the testing lab adjusted the threshold required to determine a positive result.
Two affected undergraduates told The Crimson that, after being moved into isolation rooms at the Harvard Square Hotel, they were initially refused additional testing despite suspecting that their tests were âfalse positives.â
Students living on campus self-administer three Covid-19 tests per week using kits designed by Color Genomics. The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard then processes the tests, allowing Color to notify students of their results, often within a day. If an undergraduate tests positive, they enter isolation and move to a University-designated location. Their close contacts must quarantine in their rooms at the direction of Harvard University Health Services.