Bloomberg report
- Leading off, officials in Colorado are urging people who took the state’s in-person bar exam this week to monitor themselves for Covid-19, after one test taker turned out to be infected. (Above the Law)
- Legal blog Above the Law posted a round-up of problems that came up as over 20 states held in-person bar exams this week even as Covid-19 infections and deaths mount steadily around the country. (Above the Law)
Denver law student learned she had COVID-19 minutes after taking bar exam with 20 other people
Sydney Donovan was one in a group of students who asked the Colorado Supreme Court if they could temporarily skip the bar exam. The test was held as scheduled.
For weeks, law graduates including Sydney Donovan argued to the Colorado Supreme Court that taking the bar exam in the middle of the pandemic was dangerous.
Minutes after Donovan finished her test this past week, she found out she had tested positive for COVID-19.
Donovan, a law student from the University of Denver (DU), said she was asymptomatic but was required to get a test before an upcoming scheduled surgery. She said she had no reason to believe she was positive because she had been home studying.
“Your phone is off through the whole test,” Donovan told 9NEWS. “I turned on my phone after the test was over to have a voicemail from a nurse at my orthopedic surgeon’s office saying, ‘I need to talk to you about your COVID results and your surgery,’ without any further information.”
The results came in minutes after finishing her test on Wednesday. She had been tested for COVID-19 on Monday.
She guesses about 20 other people were in the room where it was administered. Participants were required to wear a mask and stay socially distant, but she worries others may have been exposed.
The University of Denver said it a statement that it will initiate a contact tracing protocol based on the positive test:
Wednesday, after the conclusion of the two-day Colorado bar examination, we were informed that an individual taking the test had received a positive COVID test. The University’s COVID response team was promptly informed of this development and has instituted appropriate protocols to be used in such instances, including contact tracing. In circumstances when a community member or visitor to campus informs the University of Denver that they have tested positive for COVID-19, the University initiates a contact tracing protocol so that anyone who may have been exposed to the virus is promptly notified. Safety and security of the DU community is the highest priority. We are ever mindful to balance the confidentiality of health information with the transparency needed to mitigate exposure risks and maintain compliance to regulations and University policy.
