Laurier has strict messaging for students after recent COVID cases

Wilfrid Laurier University is reinforcing strict messaging about how students can stay safe on the Waterloo campus after eleven students tested positive for COVID-19 since September. 

The university has the highest amount of cases out of any post-secondary school in the region. 

The institution says that student safety is top priority and that it is following public health advice on any case that happens at the university. 

Kate McCrae Bristol is the Dean of Students at Laurier and she says that the school has strict protocols in order to deal with cases on campus.

“As university communities, we aren't immune [to the virus], so we do spend quite a bit of time communicating with our students on what it means to stay safe and paying attention as rules and regulations change.”

McCrae Bristol adds that should a student test positive for the virus, Region of Waterloo Public Health will conduct contact tracing to notify individuals that may have been in close contact and may be at risk.

The university also says there is a strict policy in place for students who live in residence to limit or not have any guests within those buildings to lessen the amount of traffic. 

“We have significantly lowered our capacity in these spaces,” said McCrae Bristol, “historically, our high density living in our Laurier residences is not how it's actually modelled in this COVID-19 environment. We have a below 50 per cent capacity which has allowed proper spacing, distancing and access to washroom protocols to be in place to really up the safety measures for our students who are living on campus.”

Laurier is hoping that students aren't taking part in any parties or gatherings off-campus so they don't potentially put anyone else at risk for when they attend classes. 

“I think we'd be disappointed to learn if that was happening and that our students weren't considering the broader safety of our community and I think that's the tricky part with COVID-19 is that it affects people differently.”

WLU is working with community partners such as bylaw, police and public health to continue delivering the message tostudents about the impact of the conditions we are living with.

“There certainly were and are some who are still participating in risky behavior and we continue to monitor those situations and continue to message that our priority is everyone's safety in our community.”

For the most part, the university believes students are reacting to the messaging in a positive manner despite having eleven cases at the university since September.

“We're really proud about how our students have navigated and handled the pandemic and we are really proud of our partnership with the Region and that messaging has been aligned with what we have been sharing and supporting our students with.”