Classes to resume Monday at UConn; eight COVID cases reported

STORRS — As students are set to go back to in-person classes on Monday, the University of Connecticut Friday reported eight new cases of COVID-19.

Five of the new cases involve residential students, while the remaining three were found among employees, all of whom work on campus, according to the school’s public COVID-19 dashboard.

Currently, 26 residential students at the Storrs campus are in isolation, either having testing positive for the virus or showing symptoms.

“Our ability to maintain a relatively high level of in-person campus presence and activities has been truly a community effort,” said Carl Lejuez, UConn’s provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, in a letter to students Friday.

The letter said students and university staff will be informed when more information is available about vaccines. Currently, Connecticut is only offering the vaccine to people 75 and older outside of nursing homes, health care workers and medical first responders. New York, meanwhile, has begun offering the vaccine to teachers.

Several other colleges and universities are reporting cases and reminding students of their COVID-19 rules as students return for the spring semester.

Quinnipiac University in Hamden reported three new cases Thursday, all among students living off campus. The university has reported 24 cases in total since the spring semester began. Students there are under a “containment period” until Monday, during which they are told to remain on campus or in their off-campus housing except for medical or school-related appointments.

The University of New Haven in West Haven reports seven...

from News https://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Classes-to-resume-Monday-at-UConn-eight-COVID-15909803.php