That may well be standard medical leave policy, but it certainly strikes me as odd that the University would treat a medical leave owing to Covid-19 as no different from a leave for any other reason when all the University’s statements and policies related to Covid-19 effectively (and correctly) acknowledge that these are far from normal circumstances, and that under these unusual circumstances a student’s risk of contracting a highly communicable and potentially debilitating disease requiring medical leave is greatly increased.
Frankly, I’m not worried about my kid dying of Covid. But, based on anecdotal evidence, I am certainly worried that he will (1) catch it and (2) be pretty sick for a few weeks–too sick to carry on with academic work.
Essentially, the University’s position is to proceed as usual regarding its response to medical leave, although, in fact, the risks that a student will have to withdraw—and that a student’s family will therefore forfeit a term’s worth of tuition—are unusually high.