Residential Programs and Services has set aside 80 units on campus as isolation housing for students with mumps.
Kelly Thacker, assistant director of housing assignments for RPS, said the housing would be free to students with the disease and would have an option for meal delivery.
“We didn’t want to make people panic,” Thacker said. “But we did want to let students know if they have friends or if they, themselves, were showing the symptoms and signs, we wanted to get them in isolation housing as soon as possible.”
The spaces, half in apartments and half in on-campus housing, were chosen keeping minimal contact with other students in mind.
Every unit allotted as isolation housing has its own bathroom and minimal common areas to prevent the spread of the disease.
Thacker said student ID cards can be activated and instructions emailed to students for the move-in process so infected students do not have to visit their building’s center desk.
Students in isolation housing can choose between having their food delivered to their room via RPS or having a friend pick up meal options for them. Thacker said students will have to pay for their meals, but RPS’ registered dietitian has selected meal options appropriate for sick students.
The 80 units of housing were made available after students closed contracts after fall semester, Thacker said.
As of last week, eight confirmed cases of mumps have been reported at IU.
Though Thacker said Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act policies prevent her office from knowing exactly where infected students have lived on campus, she said through letters, emails and word of mouth, students have been alerted if it is believed they have been in close contact with mumps.
She said RPS’ environmental operations staff has worked to disinfect any common areas where the disease is believed to have been present.
In the past, Thacker said RPS has arranged similar housing for illnesses such as the H1N1 virus.
“We utilize some of that past knowledge and information,” Thacker said. “But we work to set up a new plan each time.”
Despite having so many units available, Thacker said no one has moved into the isolation housing. Of the students she knows of that have had mumps, Thacker said many of them had family living close enough to Bloomington that they have gone home to rest during the remainder of their illness.
“It’s always better to be prepared,” Thacker said. “We always hope not to have to use our mumps isolation housing, but we’re ready and we’re prepared if we need it.”
Carley Lanich
