With all the uncertainty in the world right now, there’s one thing that is certain: Quinnipiac University has the lowest COVID-19 case total in Connecticut.
Another week of testing results came out today, and the number of positive COVID-19 cases among Quinnipiac students remains at one. Though 23 students were either suspended or disciplined for violating the university’s pandemic policies, the test numbers show no sign of a potential outbreak.
Quinnipiac requires students to wear a face covering whenever they’re outside their dorm, maintain social distancing as much as possible, and the university even enacted a no-visitor’s policy for on-campus students.
Well, the students seem to be listening. Per the school’s COVID-19 dashboard, Quinnipiac has conducted 11,516 COVID-19 tests since August 5. The positivity rate is a minimal 0.008 percent with the lone one positive case.
When looking at other universities across the nation, Quinnipiac stands out as one of the schools with the lowest case totals. Some universities, like SUNY Oneonta, didn’t last a week until they had to shut down.
As for Quinnipiac’s neighboring universities in Connecticut, they are still open, but have definitely already seen a significant number of positive cases so far this fall semester. Quinnipiac is the lowest with one, but UConn has blown past all the others with over 200 positive COVID-19 cases.
The state of Connecticut as a whole is still continuing to see an increase in the number of cases, but the daily numbers have definitely slowed down. The state has a total of 56,472 positive cases, an increase of 157 from the Governor’s last report. Quinnipiac’s hometown of Hamden has 1,139 total cases as of Sept. 23.
The travel advisory placed by Gov. Lamont is still in place, requiring anyone coming from a “hot spot” state to self-quarantine for 14 days. As of Sept. 22, 35 states are listed as hot spots, according to the travel advisory.
Quinnipiac has instilled this advisory as well, as it’s been following the state’s CDC guidelines since the beginning of the pandemic. The school is closed Monday for Yom Kippur, and Quinnipiac even insisted students to “skip the trip home” this three-day weekend to help prevent the possible spread of COVID-19 onto campus.
It’s a day-by-day approach in times like this, but Quinnipiac and its students seem to be doing it right.