By Jhoana T. Merino-Martinez
News Editor
On the same day the new strand of coronavirus was confirmed in New York, FDU resident students received the first university update of 2021 about moving in — and it comes with a couple shockers.
The biggest shift to procedure was at the top of the ResLife email sent yesterday: all residents will be mandated to take the PCR nasal swab test upon arrival. Those who are enrolled and do not take the test may have their housing cancelled.
Afterwards, residents will be quarantined in their spring dorm assignments until test results come back for everyone in their respective suite or floor. Students will only be allowed to leave their room to get food from Riverside Cafe, do laundry and for a medical emergency.
In addition, residents will only be given five days to move in, from Monday, Jan. 19, to Saturday, Jan. 23.
Classes for the spring semester begin on Monday, Jan. 25.
As of yesterday, there was an increase of 184 positive cases in Bergen County, adding to the current total of over 48K COVID-19 cases in the county, the county’s official site reports. New Jersey witnessed an additional 2,275 positive cases on top of the state’s total of 496K COVID-19 cases, The New York Times reports.
This news also comes on the day the Governor of New York confirms the first case of a new more contagious strand of COVID-19 that originated from the UK, NBC reports.
Much is still up in the air as of yet, such as the finalization of the in-person class list released in November, stated a prior Equinox article.
What is clear is that the spring semester moving-in protocols have been overhauled since the fall, in hopes that these measures will protect the FDU community as a whole.
Stay tuned for our daily news updates at 10 a.m.
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Art by Jhoana T. Merino-Martinez
