Holy Cross bans in-person activities
As virus cases rise on Worcester campus
The College of the Holy Cross has been clamping down on campus activities over the past few days as coronavirus cases have recently spiked at the Worcester school.
Holy Cross has banned all in-person activities and classes until at least Wednesday after more than 40 students tested positive for COVID in a week.
More than 130 people have been placed into isolation or quarantine.
“These numbers are worse than any we have seen all semester, and they require some action,” Holy Cross officials wrote to the campus community.
As part of the schoolwide pause, all dining is grab-andgo only and libraries are closed. All study and social spaces are closed.
Off-campus students are prohibited from campus, except for COVID testing, health services visits or to pick up food.
All Holy Cross sporting events have been postponed.
No practices or in-person team activities will be held during the pause.
College officials will reevaluate the conditions on Wednesday and communicate with the campus community then.
“Contact tracing tells us that the vast majority of spread of these cases is coming from outdoor gatherings, with a smaller amount from Easter Break travel,” the officials wrote. “To be clear, any student gatherings — inside or out, on-campus or off — will lead to serious consequences. We cannot allow the actions of a few to ruin things for the many.”
The more-transmissible COVID variants have been spreading across Massachusetts.
“We believe we are seeing the effects of the more-contagious COVID variants,” officials said. “We’ve noticed more close contacts converting to positive cases than earlier in the year. More students who test positive are also reporting more serious symptoms than in the past. In short, we do not want more members of the community to become infected, and these trends make clear that this is not the time to relax.
“We cannot emphasize this enough: these last few weeks are going to be crucial to the success of the entire semester,” they added. “We hope that, with this pause, we can limit the spread of the virus. Our ability to lift some of these restrictions, move back towards more normal operations, and continue with the activities planned for April and May will depend on how well we do that.”