Zoe Berg, Senior Photographer

Amid a national uptick in COVID-19 cases, students are facing a confusing health landscape with testing, masking and close contact protocols.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there has been a 29 percent increase in hospitalizations nationwide over the last two weeks. While the University no longer publishes daily COVID-19 numbers, the News spoke to eight students who said they have observed an increase in COVID-19 cases in their classes, friend groups and residential colleges. University health leaders said they have also noted a rise of cases on campus.

“We do have a number of cases on campus right now, particularly among undergraduates,” Madeline Wilson, chief campus health officer, wrote to the News. “We have reliably seen this phenomenon over the past 3 years when campus is repopulated after breaks. It is a result of social gatherings, shifting variants, and is likely exacerbated by the fact that most folks are probably many months out from their last COVID booster.”

Several students said they have seen an increase in people masking on campus and missing from seminars. Some classes, such as the large lecture course “Biology, the World, and Us,” had its office hours moved online. All eight of the students the News spoke to said they knew someone who currently has COVID-19.

But, as cases increase among the student body, three students told the News that they have been confused or found the University’s policies lacking. 

“I would not say that [the University’s policies] are keeping students safe … that does not seem to be their main goal,” Ruthie Davis ’24 said. “In a general way, they’ve kind of left it to individuals to decide but also to navigate COVID caution and being sick with COVID themselves to a fairly significant degree.”

When a student who lives on campus reports their positive test result to the University, their suitemates are automatically notified of close contact policies at Yale. In an email obtained by the News, suitemates of a student who tested positive for COVID-19 were told they were in a “period of monitoring and testing,” which includes taking meals to-go from the dining halls and masking in public spaces.

The University does have a form that lets students who test positive for COVID-19 anonymously notify their close contacts, but if a student notifies their contacts non-anonymously or does not log their case with the University, no information is sent to them.

“I had no idea what I was supposed to do,” Isabelle Millman ’26 told the News. “I didn’t receive any official information. I had no idea where to find a test or a mask, and I had to ask around to find some.”

Madeline Pitre ’26 said that she was left in with no information for 12 hours after she submitted her positive test result to the University, and told her close contacts herself with no official guidance.

She also described feeling confused by how to attend her classes, as professors differed between Zoom, recorded lectures and no online options at all. 

“I definitely felt that most of the responsibility was left up to me,” Pitre said. “Especially when it came to my classes, it seemed my professors had to individually decide how they wanted to proceed. This lack of standardization definitely made my situation even more stressful.” 

According to CDC data, there were 89 hospitalizations in New Haven County during the week of Aug. 19, but Yale experts said the hospitalization data is a “lagging indicator” and may underreport cases. Gregg Gonsalves ’11 GRD ’17, an associate professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health, told the News that it is “hard to discern” the actual number of cases.

Wastewater levels, according to Davis, can show the level of the virus present in a whole community with less of a chance of underreporting. She added that while not as accurate as the University reporting the amount of cases, the wastewater levels are comparable to numbers back in August 2021.

Wilson told the News that the recent increase of cases come from a low baseline, and national COVID-19 levels remain markedly lower than August 2022 levels.

She added that while the University is watching COVID-19 indicators closely, they are “not recommending any major policy changes” at this time, but will re-evaluate if the situation worsens.

“We are watching indicators closely and will certainly be re-evaluating policies around masking and gatherings if the situation on campus or in the greater New Haven community worsens,” Wilson said. “At this time I am cautiously optimistic that things will quiet down by the end of the month.”

Last week, University President Peter Salovey tested positive for  COVID-19 and attended the opening ceremony virtually. He told the News that his infection highlighted the caution still needed in regards to the virus. 

The current uptick comes as the University has adapted its COVID-19 policies since Connecticut ended its public health emergency order last spring. 

The University created a new Campus Health Office earlier this summer, which will work to support the health of the Yale community as it navigates routine and emergent public health threats. Additional vaccinations are now optional for students, staff and faculty, although the University “strongly encourages” that community members get all forthcoming COVID-19 booster shots. 

“Overall levels of immunity on campus are high due to prior vaccination and infection, and we hope that most will take the opportunity to get the updated COVID vaccine and boost immunity further,” Wilson said. “We are continuing to promote preventive measures and continue to ask Yale community members to report positive tests to the university so that we can provide guidance on isolation and recommendations for close contacts.”

In her email, Wilson said that vaccines still protect from serious illness, but their protective abilities decrease as time since the last booster increases. She added that new variants are still emerging, which “may allow the virus to evade the current high levels of immunity.”

The University’s policies state that if a student gets COVID-19, they should notify the University and isolate for at least five days — which could be in a dorm room or in Arnold Hall, according to Yale College Dean Pericles Lewis. For close contacts, the CDC’s policy is to mask for up to 10 days following exposure and to test for COVID-19 if any symptoms are experienced.

“We don’t have a centralized [isolation housing system] like we did last year, because the numbers have been low and it didn’t seem to make sense to take a whole dorm for that purpose,” Lewis said.

Lewis added that there is, however, “some space” for students to isolate in Arnold Hall. If someone’s roommate has COVID-19, they are given the option of staying in their room, staying with a friend or moving into temporary housing.

Despite this, some students are not satisfied with the University’s policies. Davis brought up the lack of guidelines, beyond just close contact, that leave students and faculty on their own to navigate COVID-19, such as classroom flexibility for students who do not want to contract the virus. 

“What remains notable to me is just that at this point in the pandemic, the fall uptick along with campus cases was predictable,” Davis said. “I don’t think people want to get sick. Sure, people might not want to wear masks. But people also don’t want to get sick — and it’s still Yale’s responsibility to adapt to COVID in a way that holds onto that as an important goal.”

Davis also noted the lack of support systems for those who test positive, such as dedicated dining hall hours or clear communication from health centers. Students who test positive are currently allowed in dining halls during regular hours to get food to-go.

Lewis told the News that the University is expecting students to take necessary precautions to keep the Yale community safe.

“We’re hoping that people will take precautions and test in coming weeks because we certainly don’t want COVID in the classroom,” Lewis told the News. “A lot of the older faculty may never have had COVID, even though we’ve all been vaccinated multiple times now it can be serious, especially for people who are immunocompromised.”

The University offers free flu vaccines and COVID-19 boosters to all Yale faculty, staff, students and Yale Health members.