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What COVID Case Management is Really Like (Hint: There’s a Lot of Snacks)

Pilots Prevent

November 16, 2021

If you’ve ever taken a rapid COVID test, you’ve likely experienced “second line anxiety.” That’s the fear and trepidation you feel as you wait to see if the second line appears on the stick, the one that indicates the test is positive. Everyone dreads the second line.

One UP sophomore recently got first-hand experience of second line anxiety — and of isolation too. That’s right, his test came back positive, and when it did, UP’s case management team swung into action to give him a comfy place to recover and keep from spreading the virus.  

“The second line showed up and my friends and I were like, ‘No, no no! Not possible!’” he says. “I took it again and the second line showed up again.”

Bummer! But it turns out, thanks to being fully vaccinated, his symptoms were incredibly mild and his 10 days in isolation were a piece of cake. 

“I wasn’t feeling that bad at all,” he says. “Mostly I was watching TV, playing Game Pigeon, FaceTiming friends, sleeping, eating. I had so much time. You just can’t see your friends. That’s the worst part. It’s like a solo vacation.”

The sophomore (name withheld for privacy) says that from the get-go, the isolation process was smooth and worry free. “I talked to my RA after taking the test and they took care of everything for me. I entered isolation within one hour after submitting my test results, and the isolation room was actually in my residence hall. My roommate and friends helped me move. It was a college moment — a pandemic college moment,” he laughs. 

Every day someone from UP’s Case Management Team would drop off a bag full of meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, plus snacks and drinks, right outside his door. “It was like a goodie bag. I’d be like, ‘Oh! Today’s a chocolate chip cookie day!’” His friends delivered a steady stream of treats outside his door too. “I had so much food. My fridge was overflowing.”

His assigned Case Management Team liaison would check in with him daily to make sure he was doing well and had everything he needed. And he says after emailing his teachers the news, they were all understanding and accommodating, allowing him to take many of his classes online. After 10 days of “just chillin’,” he was medically cleared to return to life as usual. 

“I didn’t know what was going to happen when I tested positive,” he says. “I was really thankful to the professors and Bon Appetit staff and my liaison. They were so accommodating. It could have been a negative experience, but they really made it into a positive one. I really appreciated that.”