The Tribune

By FARRAH JOHNSON

fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

A Bahamian student studying in Pennsylvania is currently in self-isolation at her university, which has taken preventative measures to ensure that students that couldn’t return home remain safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pennsylvania has more than 100 confirmed cases of the disease.

In an effort to deter the spread of COVID-19, thousands of universities have cancelled on-campus learning and ordered students to leave.

Anita Williams, who is enrolled at Lincoln University of Pennsylvania, told The Tribune although her university cancelled all “face-to-face” classes, they allowed students with “special circumstances” to remain on campus.

Still, she said the institution has implemented a number of preventative measures to ensure that students who stayed behind remain safe.

“Basically face-to-face classes were suspended for the rest of the semester and all of my classmates were expected to be home last Sunday,” she said.

“Because I’m an international student, I was allowed to stay on campus but my travel has to be very limited. I can only go to the food store just to get important stuff and I can’t leave the state.”

She added that her school has also limited how many times the students can go on and off campus.

“All of the students who stayed had to move to the same building on the same floor, so they can keep all of us together just in case something happens,” she explained.

“We have minimal travel, and travel on and off campus is restricted to urgent emergencies. We were also told to practice social distancing and to avoid contact with other people as much as possible.”

Ms Williams added that while she isn’t “necessarily panicked,” she has had trouble trying to purchase certain supplies.

“My school is in a very small town, so I don’t really feel that much fear compared to being in a big city like New York where everything is like hustle and bustle,” she said.

“But a lot of the food has been running out. I was just lucky enough to buy cases of water and some canned goods to last me. We had to go to three different stores just to find water. That’s the main thing, people are really buying out everything in the stores.

“They were all out of toilet paper and tissue as well. Luckily, we were able to ask the janitor for some from their storage.

“Right now cleaning products are extremely hard to find, but luckily I had cleaning supplies that I bought before the outbreak, so I’m just monitoring what I have right now.”

Ms Williams said while she is concerned about the rising cases of the virus in her state, she is taking the necessary precautions to keep herself safe.

She also said that she plans to return home on April 17, once the spring semester ends.

“I am nervous the borders may close so I’m just staying updated with both the US news and the Bahamas news,” she said.

“The lucky thing is, these decisions aren’t immediate. They usually tell you by a certain date you can’t come in. So if that’s the case and The Bahamas decides to close its borders, or the airport where I’m at now decides to close down, I’m just going to book a ticket right away.

“I have my stuff packed up in the event I need to leave immediately, because my biggest fear is being in the US and having no way of getting back home.”

Ms Williams added that she is aware that Bahamian students studying in countries with confirmed cases of the virus will have to be quarantined upon returning.

Still, she said she is prepared for that scenario and confident that she will remain safe during the outbreak.

“My university has been supportive in this situation,” she continued. “With a lot of other schools everyone had to leave, but my school definitely took into account the fact that everyone just can’t pick up and leave.”

“Me being on campus kind of feels like I’m in my own world in a sense. If I’m not on social media then I really don’t know what’s going on because my campus is very calm and quiet.”

Up to press time, there were 185 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Pennsylvania.