Met with the news that they’ve been exposed to or tested positive for COVID-19, students have mere hours to decide where they will spend their quarantine or isolation period.

Those who opt to remain on campus are moved to a university-sponsored quarantine dorm for 14 days or an isolation dorm for 10 days. But some students have raised the question: Should they become one of those students who, stuck inside dorm rooms, post sticky note messages on their windows out of boredom, or is it safe to quarantine or isolate at home?

Dr. William Miller, professor of epidemiology and member of the Safe Campus and Scientific Advisory subgroup of Ohio State’s coronavirus task force, said the decision whether to quarantine or isolate on campus versus returning home must be made on a case-by-case basis with a few considerations in mind. 

Miller said students should have a designated room or area where they can remain separated from the rest of their family. They should also consider the relative risk of exposing each person in their household to the coronavirus.

“Especially if you have either older parents or grandparents living in the home or other family members with medical conditions that would put them at greater risk,” Miller said. “Those are circumstances where you absolutely should not go home and should opt to stay here.”

If a student decides to return home, Miller said their family should also be prepared to quarantine if they are exposed during their visit.

Ultimately, Miller said he would encourage students who require quarantine or isolation housing to stay on campus, but he recognizes the challenge of committing to a 10-day isolation or 14-day quarantine with little interaction. However, he said even if students returned home, they should remain completely separated like they would on campus.

“The only difference is you’re getting mom or dad’s cooking rather than the university’s cooking,” Miller said. “You have to really carefully weigh whether it’s appropriate and worth it to expose your family members to it.”

Hannah Bird, a second-year in public affairs, said she would move to her family’s farm in Indiana if she had to quarantine or isolate herself due to COVID-19. She said her family started discussing their plan in March in the event she contracts COVID-19 on campus.

“Several of my cousins are in college as well, so we’ve had that in the back of our minds for a while,” Bird said.

Bird said the two-hour trip to the farm would be worth it — she would be able to be outside without coming into contact with other people. When shutdowns and stay-at-home orders first started in March, she said her mental health and well-being benefited from the ability to spend time outside.

Ethan Deutsch, a second-year in chemical engineering, tested positive for COVID-19 in early September and entered university-sponsored isolation housing at the Marriott hotel on Olentangy River Road. 

Deutsch said even though he only lives about two hours from campus and could have returned home for isolation, he didn’t want to risk exposing his parents to the virus.

“If I had tested positive and they had to come pick me up, I risk getting them sick and I didn’t want to do that, given how COVID interacts with people of a higher age group,” Deutsch said.

He said he also anticipated having a hard time focusing on schoolwork at home, and although a hotel isn’t exactly set up to take college courses, his study habits would be better maintained there than in his bedroom just outside of Cincinnati. 

Deutsch said he was lonely, especially for the five days when he was without a roommate, but overall was glad he stayed in the university-sponsored housing.

Rakhi Bawa, a first-year in engineering physics, quarantined in Lawrence Tower after her roommate tested positive for COVID-19. Right after her roommate tested positive, she called and had a conversation with her parents — her mom is a pediatrician.

“She would have been exposed to me and wouldn’t have been able to go to work for two weeks,” Bawa said. 

Bawa said due to her mom’s job, she was unable to quarantine at home.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on NBC’s “Today” show Sept. 2 that colleges should not send infected students home.

“Keep them at the university in a place that’s sequestered enough from the other students. But don’t have them go home, because they could be spreading it in their home state,” Fauci said. 

Miller said the university has incorporated Fauci’s advice and other national guidance into its coronavirus plans since the beginning of planning, recognizing the risk of bringing students to campus and the further risk of then sending them home. 

“At the same time, it’s not a prison. So, you can’t keep people here that choose to go home,” Miller said. “In some circumstances, it’s reasonable and appropriate for someone to go home if they have the right environment in their home where they can be taken care of.”