Here's how UC Berkeley will help prevent COVID-19 transmissions in dorms this fall

BERKELEY, Calif. (KGO) -- This week, tens of thousands students at UC Berkeley students are moving into their dorms to begin a new school year, which will be mostly in-person learning after being virtual last year.

Young people are not immune to COVID-19, in fact, their case numbers are going up with the Delta variant. UC Berkeley's Assistant Vice Chancellor of Student Engagement, Samuel Santos Junior, joined ABC7 News anchor Kristen Sze on Getting Answers on Friday to share the university's COVID protocol.
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UC Berkeley has a vaccine mandate for employees and students, but like others, allows some religious and medical exemptions.

Santos says the university is over 90% fully vaccinated.

WATCH: Town hall on safe solutions for schools, students amid COVID


To ensure safety, UC Berkeley requires that students make an appointment and complete their COVID testing at the student health center before they can move into their dorm. Students who are not fully vaccinated by the time of move-in will have to sequester in their room for apartment for seven days, even if they have a negative test result on move-in day.
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Inside lecture halls or residence halls, masks must be worn in common areas, except when it's impractical, such as while brushing their teeth or eating. Students do not have to wear their inside their own room.



As for lectures, courses with more than 200 students will be held virtually this year, but most courses and sections are in person, unlike last year.

Watch the full interview in the video player above.

Watch "Getting Answers" every weekday at 3p.m. on ABC7, online, app and connected TV apps