Residents of two Columbia University residences must undergo COVID-19 tests immediately after the virus is detected in the sewer system.
Those who refuse to be selected are subject to campus housing, officials said in a letter.
“The presence of Covid-19 was detected in the wastewater of both Broadway residence and Vienna residence through the Columbia Campus Improved Testing Program,” school staff wrote Monday.
More municipalities are testing sewage to monitor the prevalence of COVID-19 among specific populations.
Bergen County, which began testing wastewater in partnership with Columbia last year, reported increased coronavirus levels in sewage, according to a report Tuesday.
Columbia’s latest coronavirus alarm was sent out after two people tested positive in another residence on campus last week.
“If a student chooses not to meet Columbia’s requirements, it jeopardizes the well – being of the community and their own privilege of living on campus,” the note reads. “Students who violate the Columbia Community Health Compact and the test requirement are referred to Dean’s Discipline, which could result in the loss of campus housing.”
Students are expected to sign a ‘compact’ outlining coronavirus-related practices on the Manhattan campus.
These include ‘participation in testing and contact detection when necessary, and isolation and quarantine protocols, if necessary’, according to the document.
