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Sacred Heart University in the Town of Fairfield announced it would be expanding a previous quarantine order to an entire residence hall due to a mislabeled COVID test that prevented the school from identifying which student tested positive.
There have been at least five confirmed COVID cases - including two new ones - in Merton Hall, prompting the decision to have the students temporarily quarantine and transition to remote learning.
According to the school, the students will remain in their rooms except for trips to a designated restroom. Students will have meals delivered to them at the dorm during the quarantine.
To date out of 9,321 students tested for COVID-19, there are a total of 50 active cases, 45 of which are off campus in the North End of Bridgeport—many in asymptomatic students.
Every student living in Merton Hall will be tested, which will ultimately determine the length of the quarantine, which may only be a few days.
The results are expected to be returned from the lab within 24 to 36 hours.
“This is a temporary pause while we determine how much spread there is through testing,” the school said. “We are committed to keeping the community safe, which means taking immediate measures to contain any potential spread. We are equally committed to getting everyone back to their normal routine as soon as possible.”
In addition to the “cautionary quarantine” at Sacred Heart, Quinnipiac University in Hamden is also reporting its first positive case since students returned to classes.
There have now been a total of 9,968 COVID-19 tests administered at Quinnipiac since August, with just the one positive case, which was recorded from a commuter.
The student has been isolated and contact tracing has already begun. Any students who came into contact with the infected classmate will also be traced and advised to also quarantine temporarily.
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