{ "id": "2020-09-09-university-of-wisconsin-madison-sellery-witte-quarantine", "slug": "university-of-wisconsin-madison-sellery-witte-quarantine-2020-09-09", "institution": { "name": "University of Wisconsin-Madison", "shortName": "UW-Madison", "state": "WI", "type": "public-r1", "alertSystemName": "WiscAlerts", "alertPlatform": "Rave Mobile Safety", "enrollment": 47000 }, "incident": { "date": "2020-09-09", "endDate": "2020-09-23", "type": "covid-19", "cleryCategory": "advisory", "headline": "Two residence halls housing 2,500 students quarantined for 14 days in a COVID-19 outbreak", "headlinePublic": "Two residence halls housing 2,500 students quarantined for 14 days in a COVID-19 outbreak", "summary": "On the evening of September 9, 2020, [UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank](https://onwisconsin.uwalumni.com/campus-responds-to-covid-19/) ordered a 14-day quarantine of [Sellery and Witte residence halls](https://badgerherald.com/news/2020/09/09/uw-quarantines-sellery-witte-for-2-weeks-in-wake-of-increased-covid-19-cases/), giving the 2,500 residents approximately [90 minutes to two hours notice](https://badgerherald.com/news/2020/09/10/shocked-sellery-freshmen-witte-house-fellow-react-to-emergency-quarantine/) before the 10:00 PM CDT lockdown began. The same email announced that all undergraduate, graduate, and professional school in-person instruction across the entire flagship campus would shift to remote for two weeks. By the time the quarantine began, hundreds of residents of the two halls had tested positive for COVID-19.", "outcome": "Residents were confined to their rooms for 14 days with meal delivery to dorm hallways. The quarantine was lifted on September 23, 2020 at 8:00 AM CDT after intensive testing showed positivity rates had fallen. A subsequent [CDC study](https://www.wisconsin.edu/all-in-wisconsin/story/no-evidence-of-covid-19-spread-to-local-community-after-uw-madison-residence-hall-outbreak/) found that the outbreak did not spread substantially into the Madison community, attributed in part to the rapid containment. Roughly 2,000 of 2,500 quarantined students remained on campus rather than going home, in compliance with the chancellor's directive.", "resolution": "confirmed-threat" }, "alerts": [ { "sequence": 1, "type": "initial", "timestamp": "2020-09-09T20:30:00-05:00", "timestampApprox": "Wednesday evening, September 9, 2020, approximately 90 minutes before the 10 PM lockdown", "channel": "email", "verbatimText": "All in-person undergraduate, graduate and professional school group instruction will be paused from Sept. 10 – 25. These classes will be cancelled Thursday, Sept. 10 – Saturday, Sept. 12 and will resume remotely beginning Monday, Sept. 14 for at least two weeks. Clinical training will be permitted to continue. Classes and sections that are currently being offered remotely will continue as scheduled. Our contact tracing has not revealed any evidence of transmission from in-person instruction; however, this decision comes out of an abundance of caution for our students and employees. The Office of the Provost will provide assistance, if needed, to faculty and instructional staff making this quick transition to remote learning.\n\nGiven the high number of positive test results in Sellery and Witte Residence Halls, we have directed all residents in these buildings to quarantine in place for the next two weeks effective at 10 p.m. this evening. All residents of these halls who have not already been tested this week will be required to test on Thursday and Friday. University Health Services (UHS) will conduct these tests on-site.\n\nStudents are NOT being asked to move out of the residence halls or leave town. We have significant additional quarantine space available if necessary.", "isVerbatimConfirmed": true, "sourceUrl": "https://news.wisc.edu/university-shifts-to-two-weeks-remote-instruction/", "sourceDescription": "UW-Madison News publication of Chancellor Rebecca Blank's September 9, 2020 campus message (verbatim excerpt)", "annotations": [ "The official campus message bundled the residence-hall quarantine with a campuswide pause of in-person instruction, making the targeted dorm lockdown part of a larger operational reset rather than a standalone Housing order", "The message used a narrow carveout (students were 'NOT being asked to move out') rather than a hard stay-put command, reflecting UW-Madison's stated effort to avoid exporting infections to families and home communities", "The 10 p.m. effective time created an unusually compressed implementation window; student-media accounts document residents rushing for food and supplies before the quarantine began", "Unlike later BadgerSAFE/WiscAlert messages in this case, this alert survives in a primary-source university publication, allowing the operational language to be upgraded from reconstructed to confirmed verbatim" ], "characterCount": 1291 }, { "sequence": 2, "type": "follow-up", "timestamp": "2020-09-14T10:00:00-05:00", "timestampApprox": "Monday morning, September 14, 2020", "channel": "email", "verbatimText": "", "isVerbatimConfirmed": false, "sourceUrl": "https://badgerherald.com/news/2020/09/14/university-housing-now-charging-quarantined-students-in-sellery-witte-for-meals/", "sourceDescription": "Badger Herald reporting on University Housing policy change", "annotations": [] }, { "sequence": 3, "type": "all-clear", "timestamp": "2020-09-23T08:00:00-05:00", "timestampApprox": "Wednesday morning, September 23, 2020", "channel": "email", "verbatimText": "UHS and campus officials have cleared us to lift the quarantine on Sellery and Witte Residence Halls starting Sept. 23 at 8:00 a.m. We made progress in decreasing cases because of the limited interactions with others. In order to keep our cases low and avoid another increase in transmission, we need all residents to continue to limit their interactions. We do not want to have to reinstate or return to additional restrictions.\n\nIt’s important to note that this is not the end of COVID-19 restrictions. Our ability to avoid further quarantine of any residence halls or even closing them, depends on our residents following public health guidelines and behavioral requirements (listed below) for the safety of our Badger community. Enforcement of these standards will be continued through the end of the semester.\n\nFor those students who feel that these public health guidelines and behavioral requirements are too stringent for you to follow, University Housing will accept contract cancellations through the My UW Housing portal and will return prorated housing funds and unused dining funds. As we continue to closely monitor test data from the residence halls, students may be asked to move rooms in order to decrease density.\n\nViolations of any COVID-related behavioral requirements may result in removal of students from their residence hall and revocation of their Housing contract with no refund.\n\nIf you have been quarantining at home or in the building during the past two weeks, here’s everything you need to know about steps moving forward:\n\nReturning from Quarantine at Home?\n\nTiming: You may return to Sellery and Witte starting today, 9/23, any time after 8:00 a.m. However, there is no need to rush back today.\nDrop-Off: Only residents of the hall are permitted to enter the building at this time. We ask any family/friends who return to campus with their students to remain outside with their vehicle.\nCheck-In Hours: On 9/23, there will be a table in your residence hall lobby designated for key pick-up from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. From 9/24 through the weekend, your hall desk will be staffed from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. to get your key.\nTesting Requirements: In order to return and access your room, you must have completed a COVID-19 test since 9/15 and submitted your results through MyUHS . (In MyUHS, select the “Messages” tab, click “New Message,” and select the “COVID-19 Outside Result Report” option to complete the form and attach your lab results documentation.) If your test result was positive for COVID-19, you may return to your residence hall 10 days after your symptoms started if you have been fever-free for at least 24 hours and your symptoms are improving. If you never developed symptoms, you may return to your residence hall 10 days after your positive test.\n\nBehavior Expectations\n\nWear face coverings at all times except when in their room with the door closed, including outdoor spaces.\nMaintain 6-feet distance from others, including outdoors and in common areas such as hallways, lounges, and bathrooms.\nNo visitors from off-campus or other residence halls.\nMonitor for symptoms of COVID-19.\nComply with required COVID-19 surveillance testing.\nResidents may only visit other resident rooms within their own hall.\nRoom owner may only have one visitor in their room at a time. If both roommates are present, each can have a visitor for a total of 4 people in the room.\nResidents may leave the building freely, but they may be required to have their ID checked upon entering to ensure no one enters that is not a resident of that hall. (IDs not checked at all halls or 24/7)\n\nAdditional Updates for all Residence Halls\n\nYou will also be receiving a message to all residents with Housing updates for all residence halls on visitor policies, COVID-19 testing, dining, and the Sellery renovation project.\n\nFor ongoing updates, please continue to visit our FAQ page . Thank you for your cooperation. For questions, please use our Contact form .", "isVerbatimConfirmed": true, "sourceUrl": "https://www.housing.wisc.edu/2020/09/sellery-and-witte-quarantine-lifted/", "sourceDescription": "UW–Madison University Housing — Sellery and Witte Quarantine Lifted (Wayback)", "annotations": [ "Verbatim UW–Madison University Housing message lifting Sellery and Witte quarantine (posted Sept 23, 2020), recovered via Wayback.", "Replaces short reconstruction; official text says quarantine lifts \"starting Sept. 23 at 8:00 a.m.\" with extended resident guidance." ], "characterCount": 3987 } ], "context": "On September 9, 2020, with [rising COVID-19 cases in Sellery and Witte residence halls](https://badgerherald.com/news/2020/09/09/uw-quarantines-sellery-witte-for-2-weeks-in-wake-of-increased-covid-19-cases/) and student test positivity above 20 percent, [UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank](https://news.wisc.edu/university-shifts-to-two-weeks-remote-instruction/) ordered a mandatory 14-day quarantine effective at 10:00 PM CDT that same evening. Students received approximately [90 minutes of notice](https://badgerherald.com/news/2020/09/10/shocked-sellery-freshmen-witte-house-fellow-react-to-emergency-quarantine/) before the lockdown began, triggering a rush to nearby grocery stores and crowded dorm hallways. The same official campus message shifted all UW-Madison undergraduate, graduate, and professional in-person instruction to remote for two weeks. Five days later, University Housing began [charging quarantined students for meals delivered to their halls](https://badgerherald.com/news/2020/09/14/university-housing-now-charging-quarantined-students-in-sellery-witte-for-meals/), a policy that drew criticism and prompted a student government resolution demanding refunds. The [quarantine was lifted](https://www.housing.wisc.edu/2020/09/sellery-and-witte-quarantine-lifted/) on September 23 at 8:00 AM CDT. A later [CDC study](https://www.wisconsin.edu/all-in-wisconsin/story/no-evidence-of-covid-19-spread-to-local-community-after-uw-madison-residence-hall-outbreak/) found no evidence the outbreak had spread substantially into the Madison community.", "keyFindings": [ "Approximately 90 minutes of notice separated the email from the start of the 10 PM quarantine", "Hundreds of residents of Sellery and Witte had tested positive before the quarantine was ordered, amid a student test-positivity rate above 20 percent", "Containment was credited by a CDC study with preventing substantial spread of the outbreak into the Madison community", "The mid-quarantine decision to charge for delivered meals drew national news coverage and prompted a student government resolution demanding refunds" ], "responseTimeMinutes": null, "sources": [ { "title": "University shifts to two weeks of remote instruction, quarantines two residence halls (UW-Madison News)", "url": "https://news.wisc.edu/university-shifts-to-two-weeks-remote-instruction/", "type": "official-archive" }, { "title": "Sellery and Witte Quarantine Lifted (UW University Housing)", "url": "https://www.housing.wisc.edu/2020/09/sellery-and-witte-quarantine-lifted/", "type": "official-archive" }, { "title": "All classes switch to virtual for two weeks, UW quarantines Sellery, Witte (Badger Herald)", "url": "https://badgerherald.com/news/2020/09/09/uw-quarantines-sellery-witte-for-2-weeks-in-wake-of-increased-covid-19-cases/", "type": "student-newspaper" }, { "title": "'Shocked' Sellery freshmen, Witte house fellow react to emergency quarantine (Badger Herald)", "url": "https://badgerherald.com/news/2020/09/10/shocked-sellery-freshmen-witte-house-fellow-react-to-emergency-quarantine/", "type": "student-newspaper" }, { "title": "No evidence of COVID-19 spread to local community after UW-Madison residence hall outbreak", "url": "https://www.wisconsin.edu/all-in-wisconsin/story/no-evidence-of-covid-19-spread-to-local-community-after-uw-madison-residence-hall-outbreak/", "type": "official-archive" }, { "title": "Geospatial analysis of a COVID-19 outbreak at UW-Madison (PMC)", "url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9043656/", "type": "other" }, { "title": "Badger Herald reporting on University Housing policy change", "url": "https://badgerherald.com/news/2020/09/14/university-housing-now-charging-quarantined-students-in-sellery-witte-for-meals/", "type": "student-newspaper" } ], "confidence": "high", "tags": [ "covid-19", "uw-madison", "sellery", "witte", "residence-hall", "quarantine", "outbreak", "remote-learning", "pandemic", "fall-2020" ], "dateAdded": "2026-05-14", "lastUpdated": "2026-07-19", "addedBy": "ingestion" }