Saturday, August 22, 2020

COVID-19 in the quad: Colleges crack down on student parties as virus spreads across campuses

 Classes have not even started at the College of the Holy Cross, in Worcester, Massachusetts, but there are growing concerns over the students’ disregard of coronavirus safety protocols. Over the weekend, campus police busted a large party at an off-campus apartment renter by Holy Cross students, eliciting growing concerns that such gatherings could turn into coronavirus super-spreader events.

"Not only did the number of people in attendance exceed the state limit on the number of people at a gathering, but attendees were not wearing masks or adhering to physical distancing guidelines," said college administrators in a letter to the community, calling the behavior "highly irresponsible."

According to the school, the party has led to a potential cluster of infections, and if such behavior continues, the rest of the student body may be unable to return to campus, later this year.

Similarly, only eight days into the semester, Notre Dame was forced to cancel in-person classes for two weeks, after seeing a "dramatic increase" in positive coronavirus, with 336 students infected as of Friday. Most infections have stemmed from off-campus gatherings, according to the University's contact tracing analysis.

"Students infected at those gatherings pass it on to others, who in turn, pass the virus on to a further group, resulting in the positive cases we have seen," stated Notre Dame President Rev. John I. Jenkins on Tuesday, in a stern message to the community.

 

https://abcnews.go.com/US/covid-19-quad-colleges-crack-student-parties-virus/story?id=72499108&cid=clicksource_4380645_3_heads_hero_live_hero_hed

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