What to Do if Your College Student Gets COVID-19 Javascript must be enabled to use this site. Please enable Javascript in your browser and try again. × Search search POPULAR SEARCHES SUGGESTED LINKS Join AARP for just $9 per year when you sign up for a 5-year term. Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. Leaving AARP.org Website You are now leaving AARP.org and going to a website that is not operated by AARP. A different privacy policy and terms of service will apply.

What to Do If Your College Student Gets COVID-19

Parents need to determine if they should bring their child home and how schools are caring for the sick

Roos Koole / Getty Images If Your Student Gets Sick
1. Determine whether it's best for the student to stay on or near campus or come home. 2. Make sure you have access to your child's medical information. Because most college students are adults, you must have signed legal forms that permit information sharing. 3. Assess a college or university's plan for caring for sick students. 4. If you have concerns, speak up quickly. Contact college or university officials. Last September, Sarah Oppenheim's son tested positive for at a small private college in upstate New York, over five hours away from their Manhattan home. For the next three weeks, at a hotel off campus, he battled fever, body aches and fatigue, as well as heavy lungs and an itchy rash. "Of course you worry right away,” says Oppenheim, 62. “Your first fear is that it's really bad." The delta variant — — is responsible for an increasing number of new COVID-19 cases. And with most college and universities welcoming students back on campus, parents, students and school officials are grappling with how to handle the new outbreaks likely to emerge. The New York Times has been . Though many young people are vaccinated, breakthrough cases are expected, in addition to cases among students who remain unvaccinated Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. If your child is among the students who get sick, what should you do? Bring him home or leave him at school? Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, has said that to prevent spreading the illness. But not all parents are comfortable letting their offspring fight the coronavirus on their own — at least not without direct parental support. So what should you do?

Ask some questions

Whether to have your child convalesce at school or back home is “no small decision and is likely to be accompanied by a sense of anxiety and vulnerability,” says Iahn Gonsenhauser, an infectious disease specialist and the chief quality and patient safety officer at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. If you want your child home, Gonsenhauser recommends first asking these questions: Is there a defined, private space where your child can comfortably and safely quarantine? Does that space include a separate bathroom to ?Are you able to offer support such as food and other daily necessities?If sharing spaces, is everyone in the house prepared and willing to wear masks and distance as much as necessary?Will there be medically around?Is there easy access to urgent medical attention if needed? If your child stays at school, be aware that the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act protects the privacy of student education records. In addition, because most college students are adults over 18 years old, parents will not have access to their child's medical records without explicit permission. form, both available online. These give health care providers permission to release and share medical information with parents and guardians in an emergency. "These students are adults, not minors,” Gonsenhauser says. “This means their medical information is for their eyes only, unless they specifically grant approval for it to be managed differently."

Know what support is available

Parents need to know whether their child's school has an effective plan for managing COVID-19 cases, and how the school plans to maintain consistent communication. Entertainment $3 off popcorn and soft drink combos See more Entertainment offers > Many schools have online coronavirus dashboards, which provide transparent information to students and parents about the number of cases on campus, how much testing is being done, and available quarantine beds. Some schools are requiring students to report on their health through a daily check-in, or are requiring regular . Some schools are also requiring students to be vaccinated against the coronavirus in order to attend school on campus and are requiring staff to be vaccinated as well. The University of Alabama has learned from experience how to help manage the virus after a significant outbreak occurred when students returned for the fall semester. Students in quarantine and isolation now receive , a 24-hour concierge service, evening medical checks with resident physicians, and other resources. Parents, meanwhile, have access to one phone number that directs medical and academic questions to the appropriate place. "With the availability of technology and FaceTime and Zoom, parents can readily check on their children,” says Richard D. Friend, a medical doctor and dean of the university's College of Community Health Sciences.

Stay involved in your child s medical care

Even when schools have systems in place, make sure to quickly voice any concerns if you feel your sick student is not getting the support or attention needed. Before her son tested positive while at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Seona Lisse had learned through a social media group of parents of freshmen at the school that students who'd already tested positive weren't being checked on every day — something the school's website initially had assured. AARP NEWSLETTERS %{ newsLetterPromoText }% %{ description }% Subscribe More on home-family AARP NEWSLETTERS %{ newsLetterPromoText }% %{ description }% Subscribe AARP VALUE & MEMBER BENEFITS See more Health & Wellness offers > See more Flights & Vacation Packages offers > See more Finances offers > See more Health & Wellness offers > SAVE MONEY WITH THESE LIMITED-TIME OFFERS