COLUMBIA, Mo. — One University of Missouri student is getting attention online as she tweets about her experience living in quarantine housing in Columbia.
Brandy Williams lives on campus and recently tested positive for COVID-19. When she alerted the school, they told her to pack her bags to stay at The Tiger Hotel for the next 10 days.
She orders food online. It comes right to her door twice a day.
"The only hot meal we get is dinner. But because they have to transport it from campus to here. It's cold by the time it gets here. So, I would like to heat up those meals as well," Williams said.
She recently asked for a microwave for her room and that's when the problem began.
"She was like, 'They said you would have to pay for it if you want the microwave.' I was like, 'That's unacceptable,'" Williams said.
So, she took her frustration to twitter. She is tweeting about her experience using the hashtag #MUQuarantine.
So I recently tested positive for covid and am currently in quarentine housing. I've only been here less that 24 hrs and I'm seeing some disturbing things. I will be documenting my experience and help shed some light on what quarentine looks like as a MU Student #MUQuarantine
— Brandy (@Bambi__lovely) September 14, 2020
"I just wanted to bring more attention to what is exactly going on because every day I see the cases that are being published and it's in the hundreds," Williams said.
But it's upsetting that Mizzou can afford to pay for me to stay here but draw the line at covering the $20/week fee to get me a microwave while I'm here for the next 10 days and expected not to leave my room #MUQuarantine
— Brandy (@Bambi__lovely) September 14, 2020
After multiple phone calls and series of tweets, she got a microwave. She found out on Tuesday that students who do not have access to one in their room can request it and not be charged for one.
Now, she is worrying about what happens after her 10-day stay.
"I just feel like just to be safe it should be required to submit a negative COVID test before you can go back to campus," Williams said.
A spokesperson for the university said students will have to pass the public health department's screening questions before they can go home.
"These are questions that were developed by public health experts and then once those students and the individual asking the questions believes that yes, you are in a good place, you have answered those questions appropriately, then they can be released," said Christian Basi, director of media relations for the University of Missouri.
Williams said she doesn't blame her troubles on the staff helping her. She said they have really come through in helping her.
She said she does, however, blame MU leadership for what she calls a quarantine plan that wasn't fully thought through.
"We are all still human beings. Just because we have this illness, doesn't mean we deserve to be treated like second-class citizens," Williams said.
—
