Thousands of UW students set to move into residence halls for fall

SEATTLE — Thousands of students are set on Tuesday to begin moving into the residence halls at the University of Washington, a move-in day that will be very different because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Beginning Tuesday, 4,000 UW students are expected to relocate to the residence halls for fall, which represents less than half of the normal residence hall capacity.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the university is taking a number of special precautions, including:

• Facemasks are required in all indoor spaces, and outside whenever appropriate physical distance cannot be guaranteed.
• A limit of two people can arrive with students to help with moving in.
• No pets are allowed during move-in.
• Only one vehicle can be used per student to move in.
• In each community, one elevator will be designated to move carts to floors and one elevator will be designated for resident and guest use. No more than two people (or three people from the same household) will be permitted in an elevator at a time.

Because of COVID-19, freshman Kendal Castronuovo had never set foot on UW’s campus until now—just days before she moves into her dorm Thursday.

“I’m definitely really excited, I was nervous as we were driving because I was like, ‘oh my goodness, I’ve never been here before and I’m going to college there in a few days,’” Castronuovo said. “It’s definitely kind of crazy seeing how quiet campus is, especially a few days—usually I feel like campus is a little busier and more of the buildings will be open.”

Sophomore Husky baseball player Stuart Flesland did the move-in process on Monday and he compared it to last year.

“This time last year, I would have already been hanging out with people, meeting friends like guys on the baseball team and stuff like that," he said. "As of now, everything is limited, so just trying to figure out how to deal with that. I just hope it goes back to normal.”

Parents hope their kids aren’t faced with outbreaks the university reported on Greek Row this summer—and other universities like Washington State University experienced.

“We’ve had some friends that have already sent their kids to college and have already contracted COVID-19. So that was a real hardship, so I think just her seeing that happen, she’ll be extra, extra careful,” said UW Mom Keri Castronuovo.

UW is setting up a comprehensive COVID-19 testing strategy ahead of its fall quarter, which starts Thursday.

The goal of the new Husky Coronavirus Testing program is to quickly identify anyone with the virus and respond right away to prevent the spread.

The entire testing program is voluntary and part of a greater research study, powered by the Seattle Flu Study.

The school's asking everyone who plans to be on campus to enroll in the program, so that they can be included in daily text messages that will ask if they've got any symptoms or if they've engaged in any risky behavior.

For more information on the Husky Coronavirus Program click here.