Governors of New England states have come together with the following rules regarding college students and the Thanksgiving holiday:
- Students need to get tested BEFORE leaving college and traveling.
- Positive students need to quarantine at school, finish their quarantine, before traveling.**
- Once coming home to CT they will need to quarantine for 14 days.
- Colleges will not have students return after Thanksgiving and will have them finish the fall semester remotely (except labs).
- Students who do return back to campus will need to quarantine there for 14 days.
**Students who test positive may be able to travel home if they get the approval of their local Department of Health.
IT IS IMPORTANT THAT COLLEGE STUDENTS FOLLOW THE RULES so please make sure you share this information and help them understand the importance of following them. If they are quarantining at home, it means that they are not spending time with the rest of the family. They should be isolating and not coming into contact with others until their 14 days are over.
Here is the press release:
In order to stop college-related travel spreading COVID, colleges and universities in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware will be encouraged to make testing available to all students before they leave for Thanksgiving break and inform students and their families of states’ quarantine requirements. Any student who tests positive before they leave should be permitted to isolate on campus, or may travel safely with the approval of the local departments of health. Students who are already isolating or quarantining on campus must remain in place until completing their prescribed seclusion.
In addition, the governors are strongly recommending that colleges and universities finish their fall semesters by expanding remote instruction, enabling more students to learn from home for the few weeks between Thanksgiving and winter break rather than require students to travel back to campus and then back home again in December. Half of colleges and universities across the northeast have already indicated they will be fully remote between Thanksgiving and the end of their fall semester. Colleges and universities should prioritize on-campus programs for students who did not travel or who need in-person exams or clinical and laboratory experiences.
If colleges and universities do reopen for in-person instruction during this period, all returning students should receive COVID-19 tests and comply with relevant isolation and quarantine protocols. These institutions should also double down on precautions including frequent health screenings and surveillance testing due the increased risk of COVID exposure from student travel.