Last week, Cedarwood residents received emails addressing new COVID-19 protocols. There has been an increase in positive cases in Cedarwood which has prompted residence life and health services to come up with updated protocols to accommodate both residents who have tested positive and residents who have not.. 

Residence Life Director Jonathan Swartz informed the residents of Cedarwood about the new measures taken into consideration in order to keep everyone safe and comfortable. Swartz encouraged all the residents to comply with the updated COVID-19 protocols in Cedarwood saying, “We will revisit these requirements on Friday, Feb. 11.” 

Students who are COVID-19 positive will spend isolation time in Cedarwood, and they must remain in their rooms; they will be contacted for health checks and meals. When using the shared bathrooms, they need to be double-masked.

Students who are not COVID-19 positive are also encouraged to double-mask. They can continue with their normal routine, but they are not allowed to eat in the cafeteria. Instead, they can use their green container to bring their meals to their rooms. 

In the meantime, only Cedarwood residents are allowed to be in the residence building. Additionally, students living in Cedarwood are not allowed to visit other residence halls until new updates have been created by residence life. 

Assistant Director of Students Programs, Tyler Goss, also updated Cedarwood residents with additional information regarding masks, cleaning supplies, and the usage of bathroom facilities. Goss encouraged residents to designate one bathroom for students who are COVID-19 positive, and another bathroom for students who are not COVID-19 positive. 

Goss also added, “I know it can be difficult to suddenly have to change rhythms of life.”

This has been a challenge for Cedarwood residents who have to comply with the new protocols. When asked how this is affecting them as residents, Junior Sophie Kirkton says, “I feel like the protocols have shot me back to how it felt freshman year, where I couldn’t really go anywhere or do anything. I felt really lonely and angry that I couldn’t do what I wanted to do without being worried about spreading COVID.” When asked about the level of comfort with how EMU has responded to this issue, Kirkton also explained, “All of the data showed that COVID cases would spike around this time, but it seemed like EMU was not ready to handle the amount of isolation cases that they ended up with. It was really unfortunate that people ended up having to stay in their rooms even while feeling sick or after testing positive.”