SACRAMENTO, Calif. _ On the surface, it was just another 73 degree February day in Davis.
Students on the UC Davis campus rushed to exams or lunch with friends. Prospective students toured the campus while a political rally marched by. There was even the normal buzz in and out of Kearney Hall, a dorm that's home to a student being tested for coronavirus.
Very few students were wearing masks Friday on the campus of nearly 40,000, one day after health officials announced that a student there had shown "mild symptoms" of coronavirus. The student and two others living in Kearney Hall have been placed in isolation.
The student being tested has a runny nose and a cough after potentially being exposed to someone with coronavirus, officials said. The individual is in isolation at a home off campus. The two other individuals in isolation were on campus, and are not showing signs of the virus, according to university spokesman Andy Fell.
University officials said they don't know for sure when test results will come back on the student showing mild coronavirus symptoms.
Isolated roommate in good spirits, friend says
Angel Garcia, 18, lives on the first floor of Kearney Hall � which houses mostly first-year engineering students but also has upperclassmen in residence � and said he is a close friend with one of the students who was placed in isolation. The two students in isolation were removed from the dorms and have been separated, he said.
Garcia said he doesn't know the roommate who is being tested for COVID-19 but has been communicating with his friend who was living in that dorm. Garcia said his friend has been in good spirits since the ordeal began Thursday.
"He's not freaking out," Garcia said, declining to give any information that could identify his classmate. "He's focusing on his studies and his upcoming midterms," Garcia said. "I've been giving him notes from class."
Garcia said many of his peers were taken by surprise when news broke on campus, but have generally tried to remain calm.
For others, however, the news left them feeling on edge.
Emmanuel Agubata, 18, was wearing a mask as he rushed to his midterm on his bike. Agubata lives on the third floor at Kearney Hall, two floors above the three students placed in isolation.
"I was definitely scared and nervous for my life and the safety of others," he said. "This has been an issue, and now that it's more prevalent in my vicinity, it definitely has everybody up in arms."
Agubata said his parents called to check in on him yesterday, and he's been wearing a mask since then.
Normal campus activities were in full swing: a college campus tour was underway outside Kearney Hall, dining commons were packed with hungry students and a sizeable Bernie Sanders march passed through the Memorial Union. Chants at the rally called for � among other things � universal healthcare.
"The coronavirus goes to show how important Medicare for all really is," said student Felicia Azzopardi, 20. Not having universal healthcare now "puts humanity at risk, when it should be a human right."
UC Davis students avoid large crowds
Ashley Hernandez and Ashley Jimenez, both 19, walked to class, past the Tercero Dining Commons where freshman students living in the dorms eat. From the large windows, custodial workers could be seen wiping tables and window sills as students sat and ate their meals nearby.
Hernandez said she is avoiding the dining commons, and she purchased food from the grocery store so she could stay indoors all weekend.
"We have a community kitchen," Hernandez said. "But I think I will avoid the kitchen as well."
Hernandez said she believes, short of shutting the campus down, the university could be doing more to protect students.
But while the potential UC Davis case grabbed national headlines, the day passed normally for most of the campus.
Eric Bueno, 23, studied for an upcoming botany exam on his orange hammock in the large, grassy quad near the Memorial Union. Dozens of students sat relaxing with friends during the warm afternoon _ not a mask in sight.
Bueno also isn't wearing a mask because "they're ineffective," he said. But he is using hand sanitizer more frequently now. When that bottle runs out, he may have to resort to purchasing another one from Amazon because he heard they are hard to find in Davis stores.
"I am also trying to have less contact with people," he said. "But I am not too panicked about it. Stress isn't good for your immune system."
