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As of Sunday, Feb. 7, the UMass Amherst campus had 398 active COVID-19 cases - nearly 300 of which were reported, Feb. 2-4.
On Sunday, UMass Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy sent a campus-wide email announcing the self-lockdown. He said that the flagship is now considered “high risk” for the spread of COVID-19 and that the rise in infections is likely due to undergrads.
“Contract tracing indicates that transmission of the virus is especially prevalent among some undergraduate students not following social distancing and mask protocols,” Subasswamy said in the email.
On Feb. 6, the UMass Amherst student newspaper, The Daily Collegian, reported on two recent. "massive" frat parties at which students “entirely disregarded” COVID-19 health guidelines.
“Let this moment be a stark reminder to any of you who may have been cavalier about COVID-19 that your individual behavior has a profound impact on everyone in your community,” Subaswaamy said in the email. “If each of us follows proper protocols to help protect the community, we can get through this trying time sooner and stronger.”
Due to the spike, Subbaswamy canceled in-person classes, athletic games, and practices, and has asked students to stay in their dorm rooms or homes except to get meals, medical appointments, and undergo COVID-19 testing twice a week. Of the 13,000 or so students in self-quarantine, about 5,000 of them live on campus.
Campus research, clinical activities, and core operations will continue uninterrupted.
The earliest the UMass lockdown could be lifted is Feb. 21, but Subbaswamy said he will not repeal restrictions until health conditions improve.
“Too many of you, these may seem like drastic measures, but faced with the surge in cases we are experiencing in our campus community, we have no choice but to take these steps acting aggressively now, we are confident we can contain this surge and more quickly return to normal operations,” Subasswamy said.
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