(Additional reporting by David Rooney)
Quinnipiac University has announced that it has entered alert level red.
The announcement came on Nov. 6, in a message sent to the Quinnipiac community. This comes following an update that 115 new positive COVID-19 tests were reported between Nov. 4 and Nov. 6.
“This weekend we must be especially vigilant in our efforts to reverse the trend,” Professor of Medical Sciences David Hill said in the email. “Based on our protocols for a red campus alert level, we have implemented a 14-day campus-wide quarantine period, retroactive to this past Wednesday, Nov. 4.”
Alert level red is defined as “High risk: significant increase in cases, and the ability to safely isolate and quarantine cases and contacts on campus is strained,” according to the Quinnipiac COVID-19 Data Dashboard.
In the wake of the announcement, all residential students are going to be tested on Monday, Nov. 9. Health sciences, nursing and education students that may have had their testing paused earlier this week no longer need to wait, and will also be tested on Monday.
Tests will be administered based on which residential building students live in. From earliest to latest, tests will be given to students from Irma, Crescent, Perlroth, Troup, Villages, Ledges, Hill, Mountainview, University Houses, Westview/Eastview, Commons, Dana, Whitney Village and Larson.
Off-campus students will all be tested on Tuesday, Nov. 10 — this includes both undergraduate and graduate students. The only students exempt from tests on Tuesday are medical and law students, as well as those who were already tested on Monday.
The increased alert level translated to drastic lifestyle changes for both students and faculty. Included in some of the changes are that residential students may not leave campus, and if they do, they are not permitted to return.
Residential students will have the option to remain on campus but will need to quarantine in their dorms with their roommates. Should they choose to remain on campus, they must remain in their university housing from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. The other option is to travel home for the remainder of the semester.
All teaching will move to remote learning at least as long as the alert level remains red.
Classes had already been moved online this past week after cases spiked following “Halloweekend,” which included a large party in New Haven at Anthony’s Ocean View with an estimated 500 Quinnipiac and Southern Connecticut students in attendance. Students at this party wore no masks and did not adhere to social-distancing guidelines. The party was shut down by New Haven officials.
Dining will be limited to takeout only and all recreational spaces will be closed to students and faculty. Both student and Quinnipiac-organized gatherings will no longer be permitted, and visitors are banned from Quinnipiac property.
“Starting tonight, Friday, Nov. 6, students quarantining in their room at the direction of our contact tracers should now pick up their grab-and-go meals from the dining hall, but cannot leave their room at any other time during the 14-day quarantine period,” Hill wrote in the email. “This is consistent with health department guidance when a school institutes a campus-wide quarantine.”
Quinnipiac will also increase the rate at which it tests students. This will be done in an effort to address hot spots that are showing a higher prevalence of cases. Rapid-response testing with 15-minute results have also been implemented for students who are experiencing potential COVID-19 symptoms.
Should the university be unable to contain the sudden increase in cases over a 14-day period, it will begin implementing measures to close campus, send students home and complete the remainder of the semester with fully remote learning.