Contact tracing is now underway after a residential student at Stony Brook University tested positive for the coronavirus.

As students settle in for their fall semester at colleges nationwide, COVID-19 cases have popped up on campuses. Stony Brook announced its first case via a newsletter late last week.

School officials say while the student lives on campus, they were taking classes exclusively online. The student was also asymptomatic.

Student health services say they have been working with a set of protocols to try and contain the spread. They also say before anyone was allowed to move on campus, they had to produce a negative COVID-19 test.

Stony Brook University confirms first COVID-19 case of new semester 

"As soon as we learn of a positive case ... we identify who that positive case is and we isolate that person from the rest of the campus community and we contact the Department of Health for further collaboration," says Marisa Bisiani.

After that, contact tracing begins, where anyone who may have come into contact with the positive case is alerted.

Bisiani says it is mandatory if you live on campus to participate in the testing surveillance plan. According to the university's announcement, the first case was identified through that same plan.

"What we've done on top of that throughout the month and the last end of August, we are retesting all our residents to make sure that they are still COVID-19 negative and then we're going to be doing an on-going surveillance plan," says Bisiani.

Every Stony Brook student and faculty member who comes to campus is also asked to use the COVID-19 daily screener, which includes taking their temperature.