Around 7,000 students will be moving into residence at the University of British Columbia‘s Point Grey campus on Saturday.
UBC is requiring students to either declare their vaccination status or use rapid testing.
For students staying in housing, masks will be required inside common areas and hallways. Other safety protocols will also be in place.
“We have cleaning protocols in place around high-touch points that are significantly greater than normal, hygiene standards, screens set up between customer and staff at our front desks and in food services,” said Andrew Parr, UBC’s associate vice-president of student housing and community services.
“There’s rapid screening available on campus. We have a vaccine clinic that’ll be available on campus for students that aren’t vaccinated that wish to. It’s going to be easy access to make that happen.”
Parr said despite the pandemic, move-in day remains an exciting time for students, faculty and staff.
“It’s different but not as different as one might think,” he said. “If you look around, the energy here is really positive. Students and their families are excited to be here — all that really positive energy about starting a new phase of their life.”
Last week, RCMP shut down a party at a fraternity house where hundreds of students gathered in contravention of COVID-19 public health orders.
Mounties received several calls about the party at the fraternity village on Wesbrook Mall and found the students gathering in the courtyard and inside several homes.
Few were wearing masks, the crowd was bigger than the allowable 50 people and physical distancing was not possible, police said in a statement Wednesday.
Police ended up issuing $5,000 in fines.
In a statement issued Thursday, Ainsley Carry, the vice president of students, said the university expects students to follow provincial and campus rules regarding COVID-19.
“Last weekend, multiple Greek letter organizations at UBC were issued fines by the University and RCMP for noise and public health violations. This behaviour is not acceptable,” he said.
About 1,300 students are expected to move into residences at UBC’s Okanagan campus in Kelowna.
— With files from Amy Judd