By Stephen MacLeod and Brendan O’Sullivan
Quinnipiac University has confirmed its first COVID-19 infection after almost 10,000 student tests, according to an email sent Friday to students, faculty and staff from a senior administrator.
The positive student is a commuter living at home with their family and is asymptomatic, according to Dr. David Hill, chair of Quinnipiac’s COVID-19 Task Force.
“The university has been prepared for this eventuality, relying on the latest science and health guidelines to establish comprehensive health and safety protocols for testing, identifying and caring for students who test positive for COVID-19,” Hill said in the email. “This level of detailed planning, expertise and preparation gives us confidence in containing the spread of the virus and maintaining the health of the university community.”
The university’s contact tracing team will call those who were in contact with the student. For one to be at risk of exposure, the CDC states one has to be within six feet of the infected for at least 15 minutes.
The university caught the case during their random weekly testing. Every week, a random selection of 25% of undergraduate students and 15% of the graduate student population is tested for COVID-19. Students who are contacted by contact tracers will also be tested.
Quinnipiac will continue to update its COVID-19 database with the most recent statistics. For now, students are told to continue checking in on the “QU Symptom Checker” app, wear a face covering and maintain social distance.