Texas State says students in residence halls with COVID-19 are ‘immediately moved out’

University says residents who test positive are asked to go home or move into a university-owned single apartment

J.C. Kellam Administration building on Texas State's San Marcos campus. (Jakob Rodriguez, Copyright 2020 by KSAT - All rights reserved.)

SAN MARCOS, Texas – As Texas State University students head to class — in person, online, and in hybrid courses — the university has created a plan to mitigate the spread of the virus for residents in on-campus dorm rooms.

Sandra Pantlik, the university’s assistant vice president of university advancement, said the university is reporting that no students at Texas State who have tested positive for COVID-19 are currently living in residence halls.

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According to Pantlik, positive cases reported to the university are immediately moved out of residence halls and if they are not able to leave campus, they are moved into isolation at a university-owned single apartment, not a residence hall.

Pantlik said that residents who show no symptoms but are reported to have had close contact with a COVID-19 person are moved to a single room on an empty floor in one of four residence halls.

“These are not positive cases, they are asymptomatic close contacts,” Pantlik said in an email. “They are moved to the empty floors to be separated from the rest of the residence hall population. Their meals are delivered to their rooms.”

Since the beginning of the virus’ outbreak in Texas, the university has reported 206 cases of COVID-19 between students and staff members on campus.

Hays County, where San Marcos is located, has reported 5,361 total cases since March. San Marcos makes up 2,630 of the total number of cases.

RELATED: Texas State University to begin in-person, online classes this week


About the Author

Jakob Rodriguez is a digital journalist at KSAT 12. He's a graduate of Texas State University, where he served as the editor-in-chief of the student-run newspaper, The University Star.

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