Fairfield students received an email on Friday, Oct. 9 that the COVID-19 status level was changed to orange. This was as a result of the high number of positive cases in Claver Hall, as well as at the beach.
The order put in place in dean William Johnson’s email was simple: “We need for all students to hunker down.”
Students from the beach area were advised to isolate in their houses for the next two weeks without leaving, unless it was for essential reasons, with the hope that the number of positive cases would significantly decrease.
This was a tough adjustment for beach residents, especially since it hit right in the middle of the semester. Some members of the Fairfield community were nervous that they might have come into contact with another student who was positive. Others were not very thrilled about having to isolate for 14 days.
“I was nervous that I had come into contact with someone who had tested positive since there was such a high number of cases at the beach,” Caroline Coughlin ‘21 said.
Coughlin lives on Lantern Point and was nervous when the email was first sent out. She also thought that the impending weeks of isolation were going to be difficult to get through, but thanks to her roommates, it went much better than expected.
“In the beginning it was scary,” Coughlin noted, “but it wasn’t as bad as I initially thought it was going to be. My roommates and I found ways to keep busy by playing board games with each other and just spending time together.”
Coughlin had the chance to visit her parents after testing negative for COVID-19, which she said was a nice way to break up the quarantine.
Beach resident Kevin Kryzwick ‘21 didn’t have this opportunity though. He tested positive for COVID-19 and isolated in his house on Fairfield Beach Road.
“I had a feeling that I was going to test positive because I was in contact with someone who tested positive,” Kryzwick noted. “I was just worried because I had seen my grandma recently, but thankfully she tested negative.”
Kryzwick said that his quarantine was definitely boring at first, but he found ways to keep himself busy by catching up on some schoolwork and watching shows on Netflix.
Most of the beach residents knew this two week isolation was for the best, but were still frustrated.
“Yeah it was definitely kind of frustrating. I felt like I was starting to get into a groove and then everything was put on hold. It makes it more unfortunate because it’s senior year, “ Kryzwick noted.
Beach residents and all Fairfield students are excited that this quarantine has ended, but are nervous for potential spikes in the future.
“I’m definitely excited to come out of quarantine,” Caroline Coughlin noted. “I’m just excited to enjoy the beach, go back to class in-person and have more social interactions, socially distanced of course. I’m nervous that there will be another spike, though, because I don’t want to spend any more of my senior year in quarantine.”
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