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.
Harvardâs graduate student union met with University administrators last Tuesday to discuss concerns over health and safety, including access to mental health and specialist care, Covid-19 contact tracing, and protections for student workers working remotely.
Per Article 10 of its contract, Harvard Graduate Students Union-United Automobile Workers and the University meet to discuss health and safety at least twice each contract year. Wednesdayâs meeting between HGSU-UAW and Harvard representatives from the Office of Labor and Employee Relations, Harvard University Health Services, and Environmental Health and Safety occurred just days after the union filed an intent to bargain for its second contract.
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.
Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Claudine Gay said in a Monday interview that she remains cautiously optimistic that Harvard will return to normal, in-person operations in fall 2021.
While Gay acknowledged the possibility of returning the full student body to campus in the coming fall, she also said fall planning efforts must remain in tune with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and vaccine distribution efforts.
âI remain hopeful that fall will bring a return to our normal campus operations,â she said. âBut Iâm also realistic that a lot of things would need to break our way for that to happen, and there are no guarantees.â
Harvard University Health Services does not have the vaccine supply to begin vaccinating patients aged 75 and older, even as Massachusetts entered Phase 2 of its vaccine distribution plan this week, HUHS Chief Medical Officer Soheyla D. Gharib announced in an email to patients last Thursday.
After being approved by the state as a vaccine provider, Harvard began distributing vaccines to eligible Phase 1 patients, including healthcare workers, in December. As of Feb. 3, the University had received 700 vaccines total.
In the email, Gharib wrote that HUHS will reach out to patients again as soon as vaccines are available.
“At this time, HUHS does not have a supply of vaccine to provide to you, but we will be in touch as soon as we do,” she wrote. “Some state-run vaccination clinics in the region may have a higher supply than what HUHS may receive in the short term. If you would prefer, you can explore the options offered by the state.”