Dorm rooms set aside for COVID-19 quarantine and isolation at three University of Nebraska campuses are mostly empty despite increasing cases of the disease in some areas.
The program is called the “Nebraska Accommodation Project” and is a collaboration between the Department of Health and Human Services, the University of Nebraska and the Nebraska National Guard. The idea is to give people who have been exposed to COVID-19 a place to quarantine or self-isolate if they don’t want to expose family members at home.
So far, 45 dorm rooms set aside at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Harper Hall have been unused. Almost 400 beds in two different residence halls at the University of Nebraska-Kearney are empty and six of the 240 beds available at the University of Nebraska at Omaha have been used so far.
Originally, the program was only for first responders, but is now open to anyone who needs a place to isolate or recover from COVID-19. No guests are allowed in the dorm rooms and people would have to stay on-site for their entire quarantine period, up to 21 days. Physicians will be on hand in the dorms to answer medical questions. People who want to utilize the free rooms can apply through the DHHS website.