University of Wyoming to allow shared dorm rooms this fall

LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP) - Some students at the University of Wyoming will be allowed to share dorm rooms under a revised plan to resume in-person classes during the coronavirus pandemic.

The plan approved by trustees Tuesday provides for 138 double-occupancy dorm rooms this fall, the Laramie Boomerang reported.

A previously approved plan would have only allowed one student per dorm room. University officials realized that would leave 50 students without housing.

Doubling up could help students deal with social distancing, Trustee David Fall said.

"I don't look at it like we're running out of room," Fall said. "We're doing it because it's best for students."

More than 400 students asked before the pandemic to live with certain roommates in the upcoming year. Students will probably need to sign a document saying they acknowledge the risk of transmission between roommates, university attorney Tara Evans said.

The vote came amid a resurgence of over 300 active coronavirus cases in Wyoming. Twenty people in Wyoming have died of COVID-19.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death.