Association of Shared Living Spaces and COVID-19 in University Students, Wisconsin, USA, 2020

Wisconsin, USA, 2020

John Paul Bigouette; Laura Ford; Hannah E. Segaloff; Kimberly Langolf; Juliana Kahrs; Tara Zochert; Jacqueline E. Tate; Douglas Gieryn; Hannah L. Kirking; Ryan P. Westergaard; Marie E. Killerby

Disclosures

Emerging Infectious Diseases. 2021;27(11):2882-2886.

Abstract and Introduction

Abstract

We describe characteristics associated with having coronavirus disease (COVID-19) among students residing on a university campus. Of 2,187 students, 528 (24.1%) received a COVID-19 diagnosis during fall semester 2020. Students sharing a bedroom or suite had approximately twice the odds of contracting COVID-19 as those living alone.

Introduction

In 2020, multiple outbreaks of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the disease caused by infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), were documented in institutions of higher education (IHEs; e.g., colleges and universities) across the United States.^[1–5] Before students returned to campus, IHEs implemented measures to reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2 on campus.^[6–8] The congregate nature of on-campus residence halls might increase the odds of contracting SARS-CoV-2 because of close-contact exposure, but the association has not been well studied. We describe characteristics of on-campus students associated with having a SARS-CoV-2 infection, including if they shared living spaces, during the fall semester at a Wisconsin, USA, university.

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Abstract and Introduction
The Study
Conclusions
References

Table 1. Demographics of on-campus university students in study of coronavirus disease transmission, Wisconsin, USA, September 2–December 19, 2020
Characteristic	Overall	COVID-19 cases*	Non–COVID-19 cases	p value
Total no. persons	2,187	528	1,659
Age, y, mean (SD)	19.3 (1.1)	19.3 (1.2)	19.2 (0.9)	<0.001
Sex, no. (%)
F	1,326 (60.6)	324 (61.3)	1,002 (60.4)	0.641
M	820 (37.5)	192 (36.4)	628 (37.8)
Unknown	41 (1.9)	12 (2.3)	29 (1.8)
Race, no. (%)				0.017
Alaska Native or Native American	13 (0.6)	5 (0.9)	8 (0.5)
Asian	86 (3.9)	13 (2.5)	73 (4.4)
Black or African American	99 (4.5)	20 (3.8)	79 (4.8)
Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander	33 (1.5)	1 (0.2)	32 (1.9)
White	1,737 (79.4)	434 (82.2)	1,303 (78.5)
Other	23 (1.1)	2 (0.4)	21 (1.3)
Unknown/declined	196 (9.0)	53 (10.0)	143 (8.6)
Ethnicity, no. (%)				0.014
Hispanic or Latino	127 (5.8)	17 (3.2)	110 (6.6)
Not Hispanic or Latino	1,744 (79.7)	431 (81.6)	1,313 (79.2)
Unknown/declined	316 (14.5)	80 (15.2)	236 (14.2)
Dormitory, no. (%)				<0.001
Dorm A	176 (8.1)	33 (6.2)	143 (8.6)
Dorm B†	206 (9.4)	40 (7.6)	166 (10.0)
Dorm C	313 (14.3)	78 (14.8)	235 (14.2)
Dorm D‡	269 (12.3)	83 (15.7)	186 (11.2)
Dorm E	264 (12.1)	45 (8.5)	219 (13.2)
Dorm F†	405 (18.5)	126 (23.9)	279 (16.8)
Dorm G†	204 (9.3)	53 (10.0)	151 (9.1)
Dorm H	350 (16.0)	70 (13.3)	280 (16.9)
Shared bedroom, no. (%)§				0.001
Yes	1,630 (74.5)	423 (80.1)	1,207 (72.8)
No	557 (25.5)	105 (19.9)	452 (27.2)
Shared living space, no. (%)†				<0.001
Yes	1,787 (81.7)	472 (89.4)	1,315 (79.3)
No	400 (18.3)	56 (10.6)	344 (20.7)

*A laboratory-confirmed case was defined as a positive SARS-CoV-2 antigen or reverse transcription PCR test result for any on-campus student during the fall semester.
†First-year student dormitories.
‡Only suite-style dormitory made up of suites where ≤4 students were housed in either 4 single-occupancy or 2 double-occupancy bedrooms with the suite's own bathroom, common area, and kitchen.
§Students who share a bedroom with ≥1 students.

Table 2. Characteristics of living situations for on-campus students at a university in study of coronavirus disease transmission, Wisconsin, USA, September 2–December 19, 2020
Characteristic	Dormitory*
Characteristic	A	B†	C	D‡	E	F†	G†	H	Overall
Suite-style dormitory‡	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	NA
No. occupied floors	4	4	4	5	7	8	4	4	40
No. rooms	122	120	234	264	259	240	115	253	1,607
No. occupied bedrooms	107	110	202	216	186	218	108	223	1,307
Overall dormitory occupancy rate, %	87.7	91.7	86.3	81.8	71.8	90.8	93.9	88.1	81.3
Dormitory floor occupancy rate,§ mean % (SD)	87.7 (0.5)	90.1 (15.9)	86.3 (6.0)	82.1 (6.7)	72.2 (14.9)	86.8 (9.3)	89.9 (7.7)	88.1 (2.9)	85.4 (8.0)
No. student population	176	206	313	269	264	405	204	350	2,187
Students per dormitory floor, mean (SD)	44.0 (6.6)	51.5 (15.2)	78.3 (14.1)	53.8 (5.9)	37.7 (10.6)	50.6 (12.0)	51.0 (12.7)	87.5 (14.8)	54.7 (11.5)
No. COVID-19 cases¶	33	40	78	83	45	126	53	70	528
% Students positive	18.8	19.4	24.9	30.9	17.0	31.1	26.0	20.0	24.1

*Each dormitory floor had a shared common space and bathrooms except dorm D.
†First-year student dormitories.
‡Only suite-style dormitory comprised of suites where ≤4 students were housed in either 4 single- or 2 double-occupancy bedrooms with the suite's own bathroom, common area, and kitchen.
§Dormitory floor-level occupancy was defined as the number of occupied rooms divided by the number of rooms per floor.
¶A laboratory-confirmed case was defined as a positive severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 antigen or reverse transcription PCR test result for any on-campus student during the fall semester.