ASU President Crow says students with coronavirus to be socially isolated
Aug 6, 2020, 4:15 AM
(Arizona State University Photo)
(Arizona State University Photo)
PHOENIX — Arizona State University President Michael Crow said the institution has a plan in place to socially isolate students who contract coronavirus.
While those who contract COVID-19 won’t be individually identified to the ASU community, Crow told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Gaydos and Chad that residence halls will be arranged accordingly when a positive case has been identified.
“If we can’t socially isolate the person in the residence hall, then the person will be socially isolated in another facility we’ll have available,” Crow said.
“It sort of depends on the individual circumstances — the design of the building, the way the building works, are they rooms versus apartments, that sort of thing.”
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Due to privacy concerns and the fact that most ASU students do not live on campus, Crow said he favors a ZIP code-based approach as a means of communicating the university’s COVID-19 data.
“We think the best way for information on positive cases to be expressed is the way that we express … that data to the health department — it’s then allocated by ZIP code,” Crow said.
“Because of privacy, it’s not a good idea to say, ‘well, we’ve got five kids in the corner of that residence hall that have tested positive’ because that’s like identifying the person.”
On July 27, Crow confirmed in a statement to the ASU community the university is sticking with its plan to resume the fall semester on Aug. 20 with both in-person and virtual learning options.
On June 12, ASU mandated the use of face masks for all employees, students and visitors in campus buildings or outdoor spaces where physical distancing isn’t possible.
