Residence halls implement COVID-19 color code system

On Tuesday, Miami’s Vice President for Student Affairs, Jayne Brownell, announced a new coronavirus monitoring system for residence halls.

The system is based on four levels that signify how many positive cases are currently in the residence hall.

Level 1 indicates a yellow residence hall status, meaning the hall has not had a positive coronavirus test in seven days. Level 2 is orange, which means the hall has had one or more cases in the last seven days, but is not at great risk of infection.

Level 3 is red, and denotes that students are at a significant risk of becoming infected with coronavirus in that hall. Level 4 is purple and mandates the entire residence hall to “Remain-in-Room” because there has been an outbreak on one floor of the hall.

As of Oct 2, five residence halls are on a Level 4, purple advisory: Anderson, Brandon, Clawson, Havighurst and McBride halls. Seven halls are on a Level 3, red advisory.

Students in Level 4 residence halls will be expected not to leave their hall except for socially distanced breaks outside, emergencies and contactless food delivery under the Remain-in-Room plan. Residents will have meals delivered and no visitors will be permitted in the hall.

The goal of the Remain-in-Room plan is to contain the spread of the coronavirus in less than 14 days. It will be lifted when the testing protocols determine the outbreak has successfully been contained.

Additionally, if the Remain-in-Room plan does not successfully slow or stop the spread within the hall, a mandatory quarantine will be put in place for the entire residence hall.

“The color-coded plan is intended to help residential students and those visiting them to make healthy decisions so we can remain together for the entirety of the fall semester,” Brownell wrote in the email.

The updates for the residence hall color codes will be updated twice a week on Miami’s COVID-19 Oxford Campus Dashboard.

This color code system only applies to traditional-style residence halls and does not include Heritage Commons and Hawks Landing.

guntercr@miamioh.edu