Quinnipiac unveils spring semester plans
HAMDEN — Quinnipiac University students will return for in-person instruction next semester — but without a spring break.
“By eliminating spring break in 2021 and having students remain within our campus community, we can minimize the opportunity for COVID-19 to be brought into our campuses and classrooms and better protect our community’s health and safety,” Provost Debra Liebowitz wrote in an email.
Spring semester undergrad classes will start out online for a week after students move back in Jan. 19.
As during the start of the fall semester, undergrad and graduate students will need to complete a COVID-19 test before arriving on campus. “This proved to be a significant factor in helping start the first several weeks of the fall COVID-free,” Liebowitz said.
Retesting and weekly surveillance testing also will continue during the spring semester.
On Friday, the school reported three additional cases of COVID-19 since Wednesday.
“Two cases are off-campus students and one is an on-campus residential student,” university officials said in a message posted to the school’s public dashboard. The university has reported 26 cases since the start of the fall semester.
The University of Connecticut has also adjusted its plans for the spring semester. Spring break will go forward, but the holiday has been moved back from mid-March to mid-April.
After students spring break, classes and final exams will be held remotely.
Students will learn remotely for two weeks at the start of the semester while they quarantine after coming back to campus.
The university will continue offering a fee reduction for students who remain off campus and take all classes remotely — in part to “de-densify” the campus population, Provost Carl Lejuez told students in an email.
On Friday, UConn reported one new case among employees or affiliates, and no new cases among students on-or-off campus.
That marked the eighth consecutive day the university has gone without a new case on-campus, according to UConn spokeswoman Stephanie Reitz.
Fairfield University meanwhile reported 48 new cases between Monday and Thursday, one among faculty and staff. The new tests brought the university’s active caseload to 154.
The school’s COVID-19 alert status remains at orange, and university officials have barred offcampus students from in-person classes or coming to campus.
Trinity College in Hartford, also at orange alert, reported 11 new cases this week but showed a decline to 32 active cases (including one employee) on Friday, down from 56 earlier in the week.
The school went to remote-learning only through Friday, and it’s unclear if students will return to in-person instruction next week.
The college also announced that it is canceling external domestic and study abroad programs, as the pandemic travel restrictions continue.
The University of New Haven in West Haven reported its active cases dropped by one to 142. The university reported 72 new cases in the past seven days as of Friday.
On Thursday, UNH officials announced classes will continue to be held online only until Oct. 26.
“While we understand you may have a desire to return home during this time frame, we strongly encourage you to remain on campus out of concern for your own health and safety and for that of your families,” UNH officials said in a message to the community. “College students remaining in place is the recommendation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and our state and local public health officials.”
Sacred Heart University in Fairfield reported three new cases as of Thursday, all among students living off campus. The university reported 67 active cases as of Thursday.
Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven reported 12 new cases between Sunday and
Tuesday, the most recent data available. All the new cases were from commuter students who self-reported. The cases bring the school’s cumulative total to 39.
Connecticut College in New London reported two new cases this week— one among students, the other an employee. Currently, the college reports six active cases, with four among employees and two among students.
Eastern Connecticut State University in Willimantic reported four new cases this week— two among commuters, two among residential students. Fourteen commuter students are in isolation or quarantine, along with 13 residential students.
Statewide
Connecticut health officials recorded more than 800 new cases of COVID-19 Friday, nearly four times the number of new cases reported the day before.
A total of 802 new cases were reported, bringing Connecticut’s cumulative total to 62,830 cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
The state’s positivity rate jumped by about one percent from the day before, up to 2.4 percent from a little more than 1.3 percent Thursday, data from Gov. Ned Lamont’s office shows.
The spike Friday brings the 7-day average to 1.6 percent of tests showing a positive result. That compares with a national average of 5.2 percent.
Because there were so many tests, the state’s average number of new positive cases per day per 100,000 residents for the last seven days has shot up to 11, compared with 16 in the nation.
Over the last two weeks, the statewide average is now 9 cases per day per 100,000 residents – creeping toward the “red alert” level of 15 cases per day.
Along with the new cases, two more deaths attributed to the disease were reported, bringing Connecticut’s death toll to 4,542.
The number of people hospitalized for the disease dropped by seven, bringing the total to 184.
The number of new tests recorded Friday more than doubled the amount reported Thursday, up to 33,048 from 15,817.
Friday’s tests have the state on the verge of surpassing the 2 million test mark at 1,965,112 as of 4 p.m.
That comes after the state ticked over one million tests performed throughout the pandemic just two months ago.
Around the state, Hartford County leads in hospitalizations for the illness with 54 patients. New Haven and Fairfield Counties follow with 49 and 48 patients respectively, trailed by New London with 23 patients hospitalized.
The remaining handful of hospitalized patients are distributed through Windham, Middlesex and Tolland counties, with Litchfield reporting no hospitalizations as of Friday.