Sonoma State University sees first student, staff COVID-19 cases

One Sonoma State University student is isolating in campus housing after testing positive for COVID-19 and three employees are being monitored for symptoms due to exposure, the school announced Tuesday.

The university also learned Tuesday of a staff member who tested positive for the coronavirus, but on Aug. 24. The case is considered unrelated to the student’s positive COVID-19 test, which came back Saturday.

The employee didn’t return to campus while he or she was infectious, but also failed to report the positive test to the university until the employee had recovered, SSU spokesman Robert Eyler said.

“This whole thing is very unusual,” Eyler said. “We’re assuming since no other cases have come up, whoever had contact with this person is fine.”

The student infected with the coronavirus will be quarantined until he or she has recovered, living in one of 100 housing units designated for isolation by the university, Eyler said. The student’s professors are also required to make accommodations for the illness.

It’s not known whether the student caught the virus on or off campus, Eyler said. No additional students have yet been identified as having potentially been exposed to the infected student, he said.

SSU requires every staffer and student on campus to complete a daily health assessment and also articulated an expectation that campus community members inform the university if they test positive, according to the protocol outlined on SSU’s COVID-19 response webpage. That policy has been in place since mid-July, according to the website.

Sonoma County Public Health conducts contact tracing for any coronavirus cases at the university, Eyler said. He said he didn’t know whether the county agency contacted people who may have been exposed to the staff member while he or she was contagious.

Dr. Sundari Mase, the county’s health officer, did not have any details about the case at SSU. Public health staff have not done any contact tracing work at the university as of Tuesday, she said, because to her knowledge the school hasn't requested it.

"Public Health with work with SSU for contact investigations if they request it," she said.

While communication and sanitation in the event of a possible case remains largely relegated to an employee’s immediate circle, a confirmed case is supposed to trigger a much more extensive response. That includes closure of the building the employee was in while sanitation occurs and notification of all people who worked in the building, according to the protocol.

Eyler said this employee worked largely off campus and had not been back to work until Tuesday. University officials are “somewhat disappointed with the flow of information,” he said, but noted that no other employees have reported falling ill in the two weeks since the employee tested positive.

“We’re assuming that for right now, the isolation and the quarantine that took place with this employee has worked,” Eyler said. “The main thing is the employee is doing well. They’re back at work.”

The number of students living on campus for fall semester is a fraction of what it would typically be, Eyler said. About 430 students are living in campus housing, down from closer to 3,000 students. Those students had to sign an addendum on their housing contract promising to abide by a variety of rules about wearing masks, maintaining physical distance and doing regular wellness checks.

The university is hosting only 55 classes this semester for students to attend in person, about 3% of the total classes, Eyler said. Students and staff are required to wear masks and sometimes gloves, depending on the class setting.

Eyler credited student services staff, such as resident assistants and campus law enforcement, with ensuring students follow restrictions against congregating unsafely.

“They’ve been really, really good about providing some freedoms but diligent about (making sure) everybody’s in a physically distant format,” he said.

Employees and students are asked to self-report possible COVID-19 exposures. To do so, email covid.monitoring@sonoma.edu or call the COVID Monitoring Hotline at 707-664-2684 (707-664-COVID)

Staff Writer Martin Espinoza contributed to this story. You can reach Staff Writer Kaylee Tornay at 707-521-5250 or kaylee.tornay@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ka_tornay.