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Is Your College Student Bringing COVID Home for the Holidays

How to safely handle the return of students from campus

Anthony Yanez’s daughter Miranda is heading home from college soon. Courtesy Anthony Yanez Students are about to return home for the holidays in droves from college and university campuses, where — just like in the rest of the country. Though parents will want to welcome their scholars with open arms and big hugs, the spread of the virus means both students and parents should take precautions. Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. Testing ahead of the homecoming, quarantining and travel precautions are all part of the plan for many students. Both of Suzanne Pasternak's college-age daughters will get at school before returning home for Thanksgiving. One, who goes to High Point University in North Carolina, takes in-person classes. The other, who goes to the University of Maryland and already had the coronavirus while at school, lives in an apartment off campus and takes virtual classes. Pasternak, 51, of Rockville, Maryland, says her daughters and one daughter's boyfriend who will join the family for Thanksgiving were happy to get tested before returning home. Pasternak's husband has juvenile diabetes. “We've been very conscientious from the get-go,” she says. “The kids have been totally understanding and very good about it." Entertainment $3 off popcorn and soft drink combos See more Entertainment offers >

Asymptomatic students mean little COVID warning

Many students who get the coronavirus have few or no symptoms. Let this statistic sink in: Tulane University in New Orleans reported that roughly 90 percent of the school's students who test positive for COVID-19 are — no fever, cough, fatigue or any other sign they could be contagious.

How to reduce the risk

• Have your student take a test on campus days before coming home and then quarantine to avoid additional exposure. Remember that a test only provides a snapshot in time. • Check on state and local restrictions. Some areas will require travelers from out of state to quarantine for some period. • Consider having your student quarantine at home after returning, away from other family members, especially if someone with an underlying medical condition lives there. • If a student is traveling home by car with another student, ask everyone to wear a mask in the car and keep the windows cracked open. • Learn more about the college or university's approach to testing and contact tracing. That figure — which could be representative of the wider college-age population — means parents and students can't rely on assessing symptoms to determine if their child is bringing the virus home for . Tulane President Mike Fitts shares those concerns. “I was worried from day one about that, which is why we said we would do extensive testing before we allowed students to go home,” he says. “And we weren't going to send them home at all if there was an outbreak because of the threat to families and our ability to deal with surges on campus." Tulane is testing students frequently. But according to data from more than 1,400 colleges holding classes in person this fall, even in pandemic hot spots. Those that are, meanwhile, appear to be taking wildly varying approaches. Some test weekly, others biweekly or more. Some test only students with symptoms; others use surveillance testing, periodically evaluating samples from randomly selected students even when they show no symptoms. ? And what do they consider a contact?" But higher education officials can do only so much, notes Lee Smith. "Start asking questions of your child and the choices they're making,” she says. “A lot more of the burden has to fall to individuals to keep themselves safe." While some parents may be masked when reuniting with their children, Anthony Yanez, 53, won't be when welcoming home 18-year-old daughter Miranda, a freshman at Virginia's College of William & Mary. Yanez says that's because the public research university has been “very reassuring” to parents by sending weekly COVID-related emails and holding frequent video panels over the summer — often with the president and other leadership — on data, the school's partnership with medical labs, its commitment to contact tracing and more. But even though he's “not sweating it now,” Yanez knows that could change. "My wife just told me the other day, ‘We're not spring chickens anymore,'” he says. “We're approaching the age where we're becoming high-risk." More on home-family AARP NEWSLETTERS %{ newsLetterPromoText }% %{ description }% Subscribe AARP VALUE & MEMBER BENEFITS See more Health & Wellness offers > See more Flights & Vacation Packages offers > See more Finances offers > See more Health & Wellness offers > SAVE MONEY WITH THESE LIMITED-TIME OFFERS