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Tufts University has created special dorms for students who test positive for the coronavirus as part of the steps the school is taking to welcome students back in the fall.

Nearly all of the 6,000 undergraduate students at Tufts are expected to return to campus, which straddles Medford and Somerville.

“We welcome you back. We are looking forward having everyone, but it is going to be a new environment. We expect people to conform to the protocols we need to keep everyone safe,” Tufts President Anthony Monaco said.

In addition to masks and cleaning protocols, every student will be tested for the virus twice a week.

“We’re adding on top surveillance testing of every student twice a week so that we can pull out of the dorms any students who are positive while they’re asymptomatic before they have a chance to spread," Monaco said.

Tufts is constructing more than 200 modular units so that any student who tests positive can live in the unit and isolate for two weeks to minimize the spread of the virus.

The school is also creating small groups of students in dorms that will share space and do similar activities together.

“What we’re trying to do is get students to minimize the number of contacts they have outside their unit on a daily basis. They can go visit one other friend, but we’re asking them not to go visit 10 other friends,” Monaco said.

Tufts is offering both in-person and virtual learning.

The school is also creating an app to schedule testing and help students monitor potential symptoms.

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