By Kelsey Braun ’22, Staff Writer

Announced on Monday August 31, St. John Fisher College has been testing wastewater in all residential areas, looking for possible trace amounts of COVID-19. Once trace amounts have been found, saliva screening is the next step. 

“If a student’s spit test came back positive they are required to isolate off campus and must get an FDA approved COVID test. If spit tests came back negative no further action is needed,” Dorsey Residence Hall Director Katelynn Groh said in a statement 

Sophomore Nursing Major Matia Garcia is a resident in Dorsey Hall. After Garcia’s spit screening test came back positive, she got a call that she would need to isolate off campus until her results from a mandatory COVID-19 test came back. “I could either go home or go to a hotel room,” said Garcia, “I was out of my dorm within two hours, I packed up all of my stuff and left.”

Students at SJFC have been sent to isolate at the Hampton Inn in Penfield. In isolation, students can expect regular check- up phone calls from the Health and Wellness Center and efficient delivery services from Safety and Security.

What sets Fisher apart from other colleges and universities is the abundance of food given to students in isolation. Amanda Wilson was is another student sent into isolation for a few days after not getting the Green “Go” on Fisher’s Daily Pass. “I was a little nervous because I saw what other colleges’ food situations were like for their students in quarantine,” said Wilson. A current trend on TikTok  — a video sharing social media — from college students is to report on the terrible mistakes and lack of food that their schools are delivering while in isolation.

 These mistakes are far from true for Fisher’s standards, both Wilson and Garcia said. “The Fisher food I looked forward to,” said Garcia. “It was like a picnic. They gave us a bunch of stuff and sent bonus things. I had Ritz crackers sent to me, Sour Patch Kids, a Hershey bar, Pop Tarts, and they also gave me a free Wegmans bag!” Each day, Fisher would drop off food from the SJFC dining hall at the hotel room doors. Students are given breakfast, lunch and dinner with additional snacks and treats to look forward to. 

Luckily, both Wilson and Garcia’s COVID-19 tests came back negative. “[Isolation is] new for Fisher, and they are doing the best they can do given the circumstances and trying to keep the community safe,” said Wilson. “Overall, given the circumstances I think they handled it pretty well.”