Together For Florida

If someone wants to step into the University of Florida Student Health Care Center, they just might have to get by Olivia Taylor. She’s one of UF’s first lines of defense against the novel coronavirus.

Before COVID-19 exploded across the globe, pathology labs operated largely behind the scenes. But with the arrival of the pandemic, pathology has taken center stage, particularly when it comes to testing.

A villain is on the loose. And Demi A. Danso-Odei, M.P.H., is the detective on the case. Her quarry: the novel coronavirus.

When Lane Washington, Ph.D., arrives at a quarantined University of Florida student’s home with a week’s supply of free groceries, the gratitude is apparent. Students welcome the diverse, nutritious meals but also the fast delivery.

The first time she dropped off a University of Florida student at an on-campus residence hall set aside for those who need to be quarantined because of the coronavirus pandemic, UF Campus Connector driver Shakeyla Grimes was overcome with emotion.

When COVID-19 hit the University of Florida earlier this year, officials scrambled to find alternative ways to handle the hundreds of essential functions that take place each day across the sprawling Gainesville campus. Brian Castanheira, postal services manager for Housing Package Services, sized up the challenge, and quickly arrived at a solution.

Jasper Norwood is the supervisor of a team of 11 custodial workers who scrub and clean the rooms in Riker Hall, a UF residence hall, where students who have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for the novel coronavirus are temporarily quarantined.