LAURA ASSANMAL: According to the Ministry of Education and Department of Health Regulations, for privacy reasons, NYUAD wouldn’t be allowed to email the entire community if and when we do have a case. How would we know if the Covid-19 situation on campus is getting dire? And if there are one or multiple cases?

DR. AYAZ VIRJI: We haven’t had a confirmed case, and that’s a function of a lot of work from a lot of people. That, plus a little bit of luck. If there were a case that was confirmed, because of confidentiality reasons, we would not announce that. In a particular case, if you were exposed as an individual, you would be contacted to make sure that you are aware. If anybody was exposed, there would be two contact tracing procedures, one from the Department of Health and one from us. Roommates, flatmates or classmates would hear from us.

However, the number of confirmed case numbers on campus along with fomite testing, like testing door handles on campus, goes to our risk assessment group, which meets every week. If the risk assessment changes, moving up from those four categories shown on the portal, the community is notified immediately. That is how we will communicate risk.

ASSANMAL: If someone tests positive, would they receive the usual text message result, or would they be called by the Health Center?

DR. VIRJI: You would receive the text message, and that immediately reaches my team and we will take care of it. You will then hear from one of the nurses and we would immediately isolate you in A1A, with Public Safety and ADNH staff supporting you through meals. We will also arrange for a second test to confirm the first one, and we will manage the symptoms for however long we can manage them.

However, we are in compliance with the Ministry of Health’s regulations and sometimes those change, particularly now due to the increase of cases in the UAE. They [The Department Of Health] are now quarantining anybody who is positive, so we may or may not be able to keep someone in A1A, but if we are able to, we will take care of them from start to finish. But we would still watch you even if you are quarantined somewhere else. If you are a student, you would hear from our team routinely, including doctors and counsellors.

ASSANMAL: How quickly do people who test positive have to move and start the isolation process, and what would that look like?

DR. VIRJI: Usually immediately. Of course we would not say “stop what you are doing and pack your things,” but you would have a few hours to pack and go. We would ask you to avoid any flatmate or roommate and put a mask on, gather your things and wash your hands really well before you leave and head to A1A, all within a couple hours.

ASSANMAL: Tell us then how case management looks like. How often would you check in with someone who tested positive?

DR. VIRJI: If you are a student, we would check in with you daily. You would basically have a doctor assigned to you, and we would take over your primary care. If you are a faculty or staff member, we would transfer you to a doctor in the local community, but we would stabilize and assess them first. If they do not have a doctor, we would set that up for them.

ASSANMAL: Walk us through contact tracing. Would Public Safety put camera footage to use? Or would you rely solely on the patient’s ability to trace back their steps and recall their interactions?

DR. VIRJI: Contract tracing can be exhausting from a research standpoint, but our team is certified through the Johns Hopkins Program and I am certified through the World Health Organization. We also follow the CDC and the American College Health Association Guidelines, but the truth is there is no single strategy that the whole world uses.

We have to customize it to our campus community. A member of your household has a 40 percent chance of also being infected, but someone who you just had dinner with, has about a six percent risk. If you merely walked by someone, the risk is no greater than the general population.

We also look at proximity: was it a physical contact? Was it a respiratory droplet contact within six feet without a mask for 10 minutes or more, or was it a proximate contact, like a shared work space? We then categorize people as soft contacts or hard contacts. Hard contacts get 14 days of quarantine, regardless of a negative test or not. Soft contacts get quarantined immediately, but get released upon a negative test.

ASSANMAL: Would facilities on campus like D2, the gym or the library close if we start seeing cases? And if so, for how long?

DR. VIRJI: It depends on the risk level. This would be guided by the Ministry of Education’s requirements and our own internal Public Safety and Public Health teams, as well as the Risk Reduction and Risk Assessment teams. What may happen is that we may increase mandatory testing frequency, but it depends on a case by case basis.

ASSANMAL: We are days away from the fall break, perhaps the first one where students are this restricted and unable to travel and/or go home. What do you advise them, in your capacity, taking mental health into account?

DR. VIRJI: It’s a tough one. This may be the first time in history where you may have less freedom here on campus than at your homes. But we have vulnerable students among our population, even faculty, with preexisting conditions. We have to protect them.

However, the Dean of Students Office will try to bring some activities, even if a bit more structured, to get off-campus, and that’s something. I hope students get out. The North Field just opened so get out and use the track, go for a walk, that is great for your mental health but the key this break will be balance.

ASSANMAL: On a more hopeful note, is NYUAD starting to think about vaccine distribution protocols?

DR. VIRJI: It’s funny you mention that. We just had a meeting about that, two days ago. As you are aware there are currently eight vaccines in phase three of their trials now: five of them are from China, one from the UK, and one from the US. The UAE has brought a Coronavirus vaccine from China through an emergency use authorization and has given it to frontline professionals. My feeling is that probably within the next three or four months we will have something here.