Student to student: The COVID talk with your roommate

As a college student with roommates, I’m pretty sure that you’ve talked to your roommates about COVID.

It is not always an easy conversation to have but definitely a necessary one.

I spoke to UW–Madison students about how they handle the COVID conversation and set guidelines in their household to ensure that everyone stays safe and follows health protocols.

Chloe Weil and Halley Dopp are seniors living in Madison this semester with two other roommates. With four people living together in one apartment, setting rules and expectations sounds a bit tricky, but these women made sure to prioritize safety.

“Learning to navigate a roommate situation with COVID-19 has luckily been fairly easy due to the rapport I have with my roommates,” Dopp said.

The most difficult part is her entire household doing remote learning in one place.

“At times, it has been difficult in an educational setting with almost if not all of our classes being online,” she said. “We have to be considerate of each other in the event someone needs to take an exam or hold a meeting.”

Weil says that the open communication that she and her roommates have established has made dealing with COVID much smoother.

“It can be hard sometimes… but we have pretty open communication about when we need quiet time or when we want to have a friend over and ensuring everyone feels safe,” Weil said.

It is not only about who is coming into your living space that is important to remember but also the people you are surrounded by when you are out.

“We are also conscious of who’s in our bubbles and who’s getting tested regularly,” Weil said.

Junior Jayda Griffin says she and her one roommate agreed on the severity of the pandemic, and they agreed to follow UW–Madison’s COVID procedures.

“We make sure to get tested twice a week and avoid large crowds of people,” Griffin said.

The biggest thing is that they are prepared for the possibility that one of them will be exposed to COVID, and how they should navigate that.

“My roommate and I have briefly discussed COVID procedures. If we were possibly exposed to someone with COVID or have had symptoms, we make sure to quarantine until we get a negative result,” said Griffin.

For those of you who have not discussed COVID safety precautions with your roommates or other house partners, I encourage you to do it.

It may not always be easy, but it’s necessary to keep everyone safe. Here are some more tips for how to handle it.