BU Pauses Household Seating in Dining Halls

By Yeelin Bacchus

BU has paused household seating at dining halls in response to COVID-19 noncompliance.

According to a statement from Carrie Landa, the Director of Behavioral Medicine and a member of the Medical Advisory Group, students were seen gathering in groups larger than the four-per-table limit and not wearing masks when they were not eating.

This change in policy aligns with a message from the Medical Advisory Group sent on February 18th that explains that the greatest chance of spreading COVID19 occurs when masks are removed to eat or to have conversations.

Judy Platt, the director of Student Health Services and co-chair of the Medical Advisory Group, described that the community dashboard shows high levels of cases despite a decrease in community transmission. Platt said this prompted the university to consider areas where there could be increased risk of COVID-19 spread.

“It’s not that we connected spread to the dining halls per se, but we know that when people take off their mask and are in larger groups there’s greater potential,” Platt said. “So the goal of pausing the larger household seating in the dining hall was really just to decrease some of those chances of increased transmission with larger groups.”

Although this wasn’t a factor in the decision, Platt also noted that some students had voiced concerns about others moving chairs and expanding household seating.

This decision has been met with some opposition from students. One Reddit user criticized the change, writing: “People still eat with their friends, but now they just sit at different tables and project their aerosols across the whole dining hall instead of just at a table.”

In response, Platt admitted that you can always find a workaround to safety protocols but she hopes that students understand the reason behind this change and make good choices to reduce the potential for viral spread.

“I think what’s important for our community to know is that we are being conservative because we want to keep this campus open, we want people to be able to safely engage in activities, and we are weighing things carefully and closely as the months move on,” Platt said. “But I think just it’s hard to hang on for those next few months but we just really need people to do that.”

When asked if students can expect more restrictions to be implemented, Platt said that the university will make adjustments to venues that contribute to increased spread depending on case counts.

“The dining halls are not the only place to look at but they are probably one of the largest settings on campus where masks come off,” she said.

One recommendation BU made at the beginning of the semester was for students to add another COVID-19 test to their weekly cadence. This was not mandatory, but increasing testing frequency is one way to get a better idea of COVID-19 spread at BU.

This change in seating is not permanent and will be reassessed in the coming weeks. Platt said that a substantial decrease in cases for one to two weeks in a row could allow for household dining to resume.