Campus tours for prospective students at Quinnipiac University have been prevalent even amid the COVID-19 pandemic, raising some concerns about health and safety for the student body.

“I do think that the tours can potentially serve as a safety concern as people are coming from different places and have been exposed to more things than the students living on campus,” said Shannon Goria, a junior psychology major. “However, Quinnipiac seems to be taking a lot of safety precautions and our numbers have been quite low so I haven’t felt too concerned.”

One of students’ major concerns is whether or not the people attending the tours are getting tested.

“It could be beneficial to have all guests on campus show a negative COVID-19 test like we had to do,” said Amanda DiDonato, a junior in the entry-level master’s physician assistant program. “I think that would make some students feel more comfortable.”

Daryl Richard, vice president for marketing and communications, said a negative COVID-19 test is not required for people attending the tours. However, there are numerous safety measures in place for the visitors on campus.

All visitors are required to fill out a survey of potential symptoms both before and after arrival on campus. On the tours, participants must wear face coverings and remain six feet apart from each other.

“We are allowing a maximum of 10 people per tour and only two guests per student and have set a limit of 60 total tour participants a day spread over six hours,” Richard said.

Tours are not allowed to enter any residence halls, and participants can only use the restroom in the admissions office. Also, to help centralize the areas participants go to, people can only drive through York Hill campus, and there are no tours on the North Haven campus this semester.

Some students felt that the tours were not distracting their transitions through classes.

“(The tours) look like (they are) being safe about it and as long as the tour guides are fine with it then I think there’s no problem, no harm, it’s all outside,” said Paul Fabbri, a first-year communications major.

Some students are fine with the continuation of the tours as long as their health and safety is not compromised.

“I think Quinnipiac should ensure that everyone wears their mask while around others on campus, and that they should continue with the weekly testing of random students, especially those off campus,” Goria said. “I also think that people should be tested before they come to campus for a campus tour and make sure they don’t spread anything.”

Goria said she did not think Quinnipiac needed to stop the tours, but would understand people’s desire for guests to be tested before arrival on campus.

There have been a total of five confirmed cases in the Quinnipiac community, which DiDonato said was a concern to her, but she also believes tours won’t impact the number.

“I do believe we’ll be able to keep that number from rising above what our campus can control,” DiDonato said. “I think it is important for everyone to keep doing their part so we don’t get sent home.”