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Four students living on campus have tested positive for COVID-19 and three commuter students have informed the school that they’ve contracted the virus, according to UConn officials.
UConn has been testing its entire residential population for COVID-19 upon students’ arrival to campus, and providing testing for off-campus students who plan to commute to attend in-person courses.
As of Monday, Aug. 17, a total of 3,739 UConn students’ test results have been returned, with four positive (0.10 percent) cases.
“Given the volume of testing we are doing, it was inevitable that there would be positive cases,” UConn Dean of Students Eleanor Daugherty said. “Knowing this, the university has a clear and detailed strategy in place we can quickly implement to address any positives, and have already done so in these cases.
“This is exactly why UConn created the 14-day quarantine period for our residential students in advance of the start of classes at the end of the month,” she continued. "There will undoubtedly be more positive cases as more tests result in the coming days, and we will address each the same way as we work to protect the health of individual students and our community.”
According to the school, 13 residential students are in medical quarantine on campus due to contact with the students confirmed to have the virus, and five isolation beds are in use - the four on-campus positives, plus a student who is ill with COVID-like symptoms but has tested negative for the virus multiple times.
“The University will conduct deep cleaning in the living spaces of any on-campus students who receive a positive test. Specifics about the locations and students are not being released due to federal healthcare and student privacy laws.”
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