Fairfield University reports 35 new COVID-19 cases

FAIRFIELD — Fairfield University officials reported a spike Friday of more than two-dozen new coronavirus infections over the past week.

The school’s public dashboard shows 35 more students tested positive between Sept. 10 and Wednesday, the most recent data available.

University officials previously reported seven cases, all among students.

The school updates its COVID-19 database twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays.

“As today’s dashboard update demonstrates, we did see an increase in the incidence of positive diagnostic tests among students this week, as well as an increase in the number of these students’ direct contacts who are now under surveillance by the University,” said Jennifer Anderson, a spokeswoman for the university.

She noted the school’s overall infection rate is “still below state averages.”

“The majority of these cases are from known sources and not the result of an event,” Anderson said.

Of the new cases reported Friday, 17 were found through on-campus testing. The other 18 were reported to the school from off-campus testing sites. Two of the on-campus cases were found through surveillance testing.

Most colleges and universities required students to be tested either before they returned to campus or upon arrival. After those tests are completed, the schools have conducted weekly surveillance testing of a random sample of the school community.

Fairfield University has raised its status level to “yellow,” which could come with restrictions barring students from visiting one another’s rooms, dining will move to grab-and-go, and capacity restrictions.

Twenty-six students are currently in isolation for COVID-19 at Fairfield University, and 15 are under surveillance for direct contact with an infected person, the school’s database shows.

The new cases at Fairfield University come as officials at Sacred Heart University expanded their quarantine of of an entire residency hall this week after multiple students tested positive for the virus.

SHU officials said a student living at Merton Hall had a positive test last week that was mislabeled by the lab.

The student was placed in isolation after the error was discovered Tuesday.

As of Friday, nine people there have tested positive for the disease.