According to Moravian’s COVID-19 dashboard, 80% of students are either fully or partially vaccinated. University protocol dictates that unvaccinated students must get weekly COVID tests that show they are negative.

Additionally, Moravian mandates indoor masking on campus in order to stop the spread of the virus. 

But what happens if a student contracts COVID or gets exposed? 

Senior student Emma Miller has gone through the isolation process. She shared with The Comenian the story of what happened to her during her quarantine and isolation.

Miller is fully vaccinated, stays away from large crowds, and follows Moravian’s mask mandate. 

But in early September, Miller got sick and was tested for COVID-19. While awaiting the test results, she was put into quarantine in her dorm room. Moravian requires that students who are exposed to others who have COVID-19 get tested immediately as well as quarantine either at home or in their dorm rooms. After taking a COVID test, students must go into isolation until they know the results of their test. 

On Tuesday, Sept. 14, Miller’s test came back positive and she was put into isolation at the Brethren’s House, on South Campus, which has two rooms where students can isolate themselves.

Moravian prefers that students return home during their isolation period, but Miller was unable to do that because she has a relative at home who is immunocompromised. 

So, Miller stayed in her designated room in Brethren’s House; Moravian’s Health Center advised her to not leave it. 

At the time of her quarantine, she was the only person isolated in the building.

“The door was an older plywood door with a poor quality lock, which made me extremely uncomfortable, especially as a woman, on top of the fact that no one was checking on me in any capacity,” Miller said.

Additionally, Miller noted that the air quality in the room was bad and that she had no way to open a window. She also couldn’t tell if the building was locked at night. Miller said she felt unsafe there. 

Before Miller moved into Brethren’s House, the Moravian Health Center sent her an email stating that “the Health Center will check on you frequently to assess your symptoms and determine if you need further care.” Miller said that no one ever did, making her feel even more at risk. 

Getting food in isolation was difficult. 

In an email to her, the Health Center said that Miller could get meals by filling out an order online and asking a friend to pick up the order for her. 

Unfortunately, Miller was unable to find anyone who could do that for her, leaving her without any way to get meals from the University.

The irony was that Miller was staying right near the Clewell Dining Hall but couldn’t receive any food. 

Although Miller knows that she could have reached out to Dining Services, Miller said she felt like Moravian was confident in their system and didn’t want to reach out at the time. 

After dealing with the lack of food, safety, and decent housing for three days, Miller was finally able to leave campus and isolate at home after her family had gone out of town. 

Looking back, Miller feels that the University isn’t prepared to handle students who have to isolate themselves on campus because of COVID.