The First 100 Days: Establishment and Effectiveness of Campus Protection Measures at a College during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Healthcare (Basel). 2020 Aug 28;8(3):308. doi: 10.3390/healthcare8030308.

Abstract

To prevent transmission of the coronavirus, we established the campus protection measures for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) (CPMCV-19) and analyzed the effectiveness and cost in practice. This project was set in Taiwan. We organized an anti-epidemic task force team from multidisciplinary co-workers to establish the CPMCV-19. The essential components were as follows: no close contact communication, sterilization, temperature control, social distancing, activity restrictions, personal hygiene control, and situational awareness. During 100 days of operation, the mean time spent for frontal temperature measuring was 2.7 ± 0.3 s per person. The mean on-duty time for individual personnel to control the gate and measure temperature was 3.5 h per day. In total, 31 persons with loss of taste/smell or fever were detected on campus and sent to hospital for screening within 1 h. A total of 6 persons were instructed to observe self-health management due to possible contact or travel history, and none were diagnosed with COVID-19 infection. A total budget of USD 27,100 was used for CMPCV-19 in this period. The established campus protection measures for COVID-19 were practical and might be effective. They can be used as reference for schools in a pandemic, such as COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19; campus protection measures; college; coronavirus; effectiveness; pandemic.