New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
Fairfield universities order curfews
Others in state report new COVID cases
FAIRFIELD — Sacred Heart and Fairfield universities have announced they will be enforcing nightly curfews for students as COVID-19 cases continue to rise in Connecticut.
The move comes the day after Gov. Ned Lamont said the state is recommending a 10 p.m. curfew for everyone in the state, along with restricting private gatherings to 10 people.
Sacred Heart University officials announced the school will enforce a 9:30 p.m. curfew for students living on campus and a 10 p.m. curfew for students living off campus.
Students living on campus will not have to be in their dorms, the school said, but they are required to be on campus for curfew.
The school also raised its COVID-19 alert level to red, meaning “the majority” of classes will move online only beginning Monday, the school said.
In addition, most campus events will be canceled for two weeks or longer, including practices, rehearsals and gatherings. Students are barred from attending off-campus gatherings, building access will be restricted and meals will be grab-and-go.
SHU reported 34 new cases Friday in the past day — 25 on campus, and nine off. The school’s public dashboard shows 124 active cases of COVID-19, the majority among students living on campus.
“We are disappointed to go to remote learning so close to the finish line, but the health and safety of our community takes priority, and the spiking numbers necessitate this move,” the school’s coronavirus planning team said in a message Friday.
Fairfield University students will need to be in their dorms at 11 p.m. beginning Friday, university spokeswoman Jennifer Anderson said.
The school is also raising its alert level to orange and told students meals will be grab-and-go.
The restrictions will apply for at least 14 days. The university also barred students living off campus from campus earlier this week.
Test results from Thursday showed 44 new cases of COVID-19 at the university, all among students. There were 116 active cases of the virus reported, 21 of them on-campus.
On Monday, the governor announced the state would be rolling back to Phase 2 reopening in the face of mounting coronavirus infections around Connecticut.
The modified version of the earlier restrictions, which went into effect Friday, cut the capacity of indoor dining from 75 percent capacity to 50 percent. Restaurants were also barred from dine-in service past 9:30 p.m., and patrons are allowed to seat no more than eight people to a table.
While several other colleges and universities around the state discouraged students from traveling, they stopped short of
issuing enforceable nightly curfews.
Yale University in New Haven ordered students residing in Davenport, Hopper, and Saybrook colleges to quarantine. Students of those colleges living off campus will only be allowed to come to campus for COVID-19 testing.
Yale students were “strongly encouraged” to limit their activities off campus, and students were instructed not to dine out at restaurants.
The school also suspended in-person activities for varsity athletics.
Yale reported 42 new
cases of COVID-19 within the past seven days as of Wednesday, the most recent data available. The new cases bring the school’s cumulative total for the semester to 151.
At the University of West Haven, officials are advising students to abide by the governor’s restrictions — including a limit on gatherings of no more than 10 people.
“However, we will not be locking the doors to our residence halls and buildings at 10 PM because these are among the safest places students could be as we have a high level of compliance
on our campus,” said Summer McGee, the school’s COVID-19 coordinator. “For residential students, campus is their home and we want them to stay home, even if they are staying up past 10 PM to study, hangout in small groups or to workout.”
The school reported 18 new cases within the past seven days, with 22 active cases — one among staff.
Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven reported nine new cases between Sunday and Tuesday, bringing the school’s cumulative total to 80 this semester.
Eastern Connecticut State University in Willimantic reported five new cases this week. Thirty-six students there are in isolation or quarantine for the virus, according to ECSU’s data.
The University of Connecticut reported nine new cases among students in and around its Storrs campus, and two new cases at a residence hall in Stamford that has been placed under quarantine.
Trinity College in Hartford reported one new case this week, bringing the active caseload there to nine.