N.S. university using green bracelets to identify students who completed quarantine

People in Antigonish, N.S. may notice a new trend among university students this fall — neon green bracelets.

St. Francis Xavier University is using the brightly coloured bracelets to easily identify which students came from within the Atlantic bubble, or have completed their 14-day quarantine.

"We just really wanted to be able to ensure both our internal community at St. FX and the wider community within Antigonish that our students have actually satisfied the commitments that we were asking them to make," said Elizabeth Yeo, vice president, students, at St. FX.

"So this was another way for us to make sure that our community was safe."

The bracelets are required by both students and staff to access academic and administrative buildings, as well as for attending classes.

They must remain on until the end of September in order to get around campus.

Post-secondary students in N.S.

Roughly 3,200 post-secondary students have arrived in Nova Scotia and 6,000 tests have been completed. Each student from outside the Atlantic bubble is required to do three COVID tests during their quarantine.

This past week, a Université Sainte-Anne student was expelled for failing to self-isolate and later testing positive for COVID-19.

Four students were fined for not self-isolating over the Labour Day weekend, including three from St. FX and one from Acadia.

Despite this, the province's chief medical officer of health, Dr. Robert Strang, said on Wednesday that post-secondary students are doing well with isolating and completing daily digital check-ins.

Students will be issued a green wristband once they have submitted a signed waiver, signed the university's student community protocols, completed the isolation period and pass a general COVID-19 screening questionnaire at the time they go to get their bracelet.

Yeo said that includes declaring they currently have no symptoms, they've been in quarantine for 14 days and they have not been in contact with a known case of COVID-19.

"The community finds it very reassuring once they see the green bracelet," she said.

If they lose their bracelet, students would have to verify that they have completed the above agreements, but Yeo said the bracelets won't come off unless they've been cut.

Yeo said most of the students have been finishing up their isolation over the last few days and it's great to see them out enjoying the community.

"They've been coming through and getting their bracelets. They're so happy to be done," she said.

"I think they're all quite proud of themselves too, because they realize they're resilient and that they can get through things that are difficult."