Mercyhurst student completed both COVID-19 quarantine and isolation

Marina Boyle is now an expert on the difference between quarantining and isloating for COVID-19.

Boyle, a 22-year-old Merychurst University senior, experienced both during the fall semester. The Dublin, Ireland, resident joined about 200 classmates at Mercyhurst–North East in August because they arrived from outside the United States or lived in COVID-19 hot spots.

Then Boyle had to isolate in mid-November after she tested positive for the virus.

"With the quarantine, I wasn't sick, so I could go outside and go for walks as long as I wore a mask," Boyle said. "When I tested positive and went into isolation, I had to stay in my townhouse, mostly in my bedroom."

Mercyhurst was one of several Erie-area colleges and universities that have dealt with clusters of COVID-19 cases. A total of 145 Mercyhurst students and employees have tested positive for the virus this semester as of Wednesday.

Most Pennsylvania colleges and universities post their own COVID-19 statistics. Pennsylvania State University publishes a dashboard for all of its campuses at https://virusinfo.psu.edu/covid-19-dashboard.

Boyle got tested for COVID-19 on Nov. 11 after feeling fatigued and developing a mild sore throat.

"I'm a (resident adviser) and one of the other RAs felt ill and tested positive, so I needed to get tested," Boyle said. "I called the university's hotline and they helped me get a test."

Boyle received her test results online a few days later at 12:30 a.m. Even though she expected a positive test, "it was still a bit of a shock."

As a COVID-19 patient, Boyle had to remain in her on-campus townhouse and distance herself from her roommates as much as possible.

"I felt decent, so I was able to take my classes online," Boyle said. "The time went pretty quickly."

While Boyle spent most of her isolation in her bedroom, she had more freedom during her two-week quarantine in August.

Since she hadn't tested positive for COVID-19 at that point, Boyle was able to go outside of her townhouse at Mercyhurst–North East and socialize with the other quarantined students.

"We were allowed to get together as long as we were outside and stayed at least 6 feet apart," Boyle said. "It wasn't the most exciting 14 days of my life."

Boyle cleared isolation on Nov. 19 and planned to return to Ireland for the semester break.

She will come back to Mercyhurst in January for the spring semester.  She majors in both business & competitive intelligence, and international hospitality & tourism. 

"The semester starts Jan. 25 but I will return Jan. 9," Boyle said. "I have to quarantine again."

David Bruce at dbruce@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNBruce.

COVID-19 CASES

Erie County reported 115 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, increasing its total to 4,709 since the pandemic started.

Of those cases, 2,870 people have recovered and 73 have died. There were 1,766 active cases as of Wednesday.

A total of 75 county residents with COVID-19 were hospitalized Wednesday, including 29 in intensive care units and seven who needed ventilators, the Pennsylvania Department of Health reported.

The moving 14-day average for hospitalized county residents with COVID-19 has increased from 6.0 on Oct. 17 to 52.2 on Wednesday.