FAYETTEVILLE -- Differing guidance has emerged for when college students testing positive for covid-19 should be able to break their isolation.
One question is whether to test, with a national health organization recommending a negative rapid antigen test if a student wants to return to class before the end of a 10-day isolation period.
This goes against guidance from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, where the medical director for the campus' health center on Wednesday said that after students complete an isolation period -- a minimum of five days at UA-Fayetteville -- "they do not need to retest for negative to return to class or the lab."
Covid-19 recommendations and guidance have changed rapidly in recent weeks, all during an unprecedented surge in new infections.
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Colleges across the state now have shifted their approach to certain protocols for responding to the coronavirus, while some campuses are buying and distributing large numbers of KN95 masks, considered to offer better protection than some other face coverings.
Many of the state's largest universities have shortened their recommended minimum isolation period to five days from 10 days for those testing positive for covid-19.
Dr. Huda Sharaf, medical director for UA-Fayetteville's health center, said Wednesday in a campus forum that if a rapid antigen test comes back positive, then there's no need for a second test -- and isolation should begin -- as seeking a confirmation test strains resources.
"The other thing that I want to make very clear is that if you have someone who's had covid and they have successfully completed their isolation period, and met all the criteria for ending their isolation period, they do not need to retest for negative to return to class or the lab," Sharaf said. "Again, this is not a good use of resources."
But the American College Health Association on Wednesday stated that if colleges are using a shortened five-day minimum isolation period, then "ACHA recommends students test out of isolation using a rapid antigen test."
Isolation could end at least five days after the start of symptoms "with a negative test," but if the test is positive, then "additional testing on day seven or eight can be performed with a negative test ending isolation prior to 10 days," the group stated.
Colleges that have shortened their minimum isolation periods have cited new guidance for the general public from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which on Dec. 27 shortened the recommended isolation period to a minimum of five days instead of 10 days, so long as individuals are without fever for 24 hours prior to breaking their isolation and also spend the next five days wearing masks when around others.
The CDC has said most coronavirus transmission "occurs early in the course of illness, generally in the 1-2 days prior to onset of symptoms and the 2-3 days after."
Also at issue is whether a college campus setting should affect recommendations.
Asked about recommended isolation periods for colleges, Danyelle McNeill, spokeswoman for the state Department of Health, said officials have been awaiting CDC guidance specific to higher education institutions.
"We have not issued any recommendations because we are waiting for CDC guidance," McNeill said in an email Thursday.
The American College Health Association also has recommendations for if "colleges cannot test or choose not to do testing as a condition for release."
UA-Fayetteville spokesman Mark Rushing on Friday said the university's guidance basically matches the national group's recommendations for colleges not telling students to test out of isolation. Both state that isolation should not be broken unless a student has been free from fever for 24 hours without the use of medicines.
UA-Fayetteville is the state's largest university.
Among other schools in the top six by enrollment, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock continues to tell its students and workers that they should isolate for at least 10 days, a UALR spokeswoman said Thursday, referring, despite McNeill's statement, to state guidance.
"UA Little Rock received guidance on Jan. 18, 2022, from the Arkansas Department of Health to continue using a 10-day isolation period, with limited exceptions," spokeswoman Angie Faller said in an email.
A shortened isolation period strikes a balance, said Patrick Desrochers, chair of the University of Central Arkansas Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. "I appreciate that UCA's 5 day policy based on CDC guidance is one that is trying to thread the difficult line of getting COVID[+] people back to class as efficiently as possible while minimizing impact on the whole UCA community," Desrochers said in an email, adding that he sees "nothing wrong" with the American College Health Association recommendation to test out of isolation.
"But tests cost," Desrochers added.
In response to Arkansas Democrat-Gazette questions, none of the state's six largest universities stated that they planned to tell students to test negative on a rapid antigen test prior to returning from isolation before 10 days.
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Sam Strasner, a spokesman for Arkansas Tech University, referred to an internal covid-19 working group.
"In this case, due diligence by the ATU COVID-19 task force would include assessing rapid antigen testing capacity," Strasner said in an email.
MASK PLANS
The University of Arkansas at Fort Smith has a plan to provide KN95 masks to students returning from isolation after five days, a spokeswoman said.
UAFS, with an enrollment of about 4,300 non-high school students, "is currently sourcing 10,000 KN95 masks, reserving a portion of that quantity to provide five KN95 masks to all students faculty and staff as they exit isolation on day 5," spokeswoman Rachel Putman said in an email Thursday.
Five hundred KN95 masks were in hand last week for distribution to those exiting quarantine, Putman said.
The American College Health Association recommended that masks -- and instructions on how to wear them -- be provided to students emerging from isolation after less than 10 days.
"The term 'asymptomatic' does not always mean 'not contagious,'" the group stated. "Therefore, any individuals leaving isolation prior to day 10 should be provided with and instructed on the appropriate use of a well-fitted N95, KN95, or surgical mask, which should be worn at all times in public indoor settings and crowded outdoor settings where distancing is not feasible."
The UAFS plans are not "directly attributed" to the health association's recommendations, Putman said.
The state's six largest public universities all have indoor mask requirements.
At the University of Central Arkansas, some KN95 masks have been available upon request since the spring 2021 semester, Desrochers said.
In UCA's Department of Chemistry, "some of our students are choosing not to use these, preferring instead to use their own mask (cloth, single layer surgical, etc.)," Desrochers said in an email. "I tell my students the KN95 are the best that we can offer under the circumstances, and that if they must wear a mask (as thankfully our president continues to make clear we must) it should be a KN95."
UALR recently obtained about 6,000 KN95 masks, Faller said, and the "masks will be encouraged in front-line service settings where there is a high amount of interaction with others."
At UA-Fayetteville, about 6,000 KN95 masks were delivered last week, and an additional 25,000 masks are on order "with varying delivery times," Rushing said in an email.
For now, "deans and department or unit heads are being asked to request masks only for faculty, staff and graduate assistants that are public facing or those who interact with a large variety of people on a regular basis," Rushing said. He said the cost is about $22,000, with federal coronavirus relief funds expected to cover the expense.
Bill Smith, a spokesman for Arkansas State University, referred to federal efforts to provide masks.
"For our essential workers and those with a specific need, they can request a '95-style' masks. We have purchased stocks to hand out to those who request," Smith said in an email. "With state and federal agencies making '95-style' masks more widely available to the general public, ordering large stockpiles to distribute may be repetitious."
Strasner, with Arkansas Tech, said in an email that the university "is reviewing options" to improve campus access to such masks.
"As more details about the 400 million N95 masks the federal government is providing become available, that information will be communicated to the university community," Strasner said.