New Haven-area colleges see virus hike

NEW HAVEN — Colleges and universities in and around the Elm City have seen a steady uptick in COVID-19 cases in recent days amid rising cases throughout the area.

Yale University, in downtown New Haven, saw 43 new cases last week alone, according to the university’s data. Of those, nearly half were among faculty and staff members. That’s an anomaly, because most colleges and universities around the state have generally seen more cases among students, especially those living off campus.

At Yale, 22 of the 43 new cases were among students — 10 among graduate and professional students and the remaining dozen cases split evenly between undergrad students living on and off campus.

The uptick at Yale comes as New Haven and all of its outlying communities have been declared orange alert zones by state health officials. The designation is based on the number of new cases per 100,000 residents recorded within a twoweek period.

Connecticut as a whole has had enough cases on average for the whole state to be considered a red alert zone.

The uptick led Gov. Ned Lamont on Monday to announce the state was rolling back its reopening plans, with some exceptions, which includes reducing the indoor dining capacity at restaurants.

Quinnipiac University in Hamden also saw a large spike in cases over the past week.

The school reported 36 new confirmed cases last week, a positivity rate of 1.7 percent measured across 2,144 tests. The new infections brought the university’s total active caseload to 47, and the school’s cumulative number of cases to 84.

Over the weekend, Quinnipiac officials announced 20 students had been sent home after attending a Thursday night Halloween party at Anthony’s Ocean View in New Haven.

“We have verified that, among the attendees, were students from QU, that masks were not worn, social distancing wasn’t practiced and total attendance exceeded public health guidelines,” school officials said in a letter to the community.

Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven also saw a bump in cases last week

Nineteen more students tested positive, with a majority of the new cases among commuter students, the school’s data shows.

The new cases brought SCSU’s cumulative total number of cases for the semester to 71— more than threequarters of which were among commuter students.

The University of New Haven, in West Haven, and Albertus Magnus College in New Haven both reported fewer cases.

At UNH, seven new cases were reported in the last seven days as of Tuesday, bringing the school’s active caseload to 10, according to the school’s data. All of the active cases are among students.

Albertus Magnus reported nine new cases last week through Monday, bringing the college’s cumulative number of infections to 23. The school has mostly avoided COVID-19 cases throughout the semester.

Other schools around the state also reported new cases.

Western Connecticut State University, which has campuses in Danbury and Waterbury, reported seven new cases last week, bringing the school’s cumulative total to 20.

The University of Bridgeport reported five new cases last week, bringing the school’s cumulative caseload to 18 this semester.

The University of Hartford in West Hartford reported four more cases last week, with five active cases as of Tuesday. The school has had 63 cases of COVID-19 so far this semester.

The University of St. Joseph, also in West Hartford, reported five new cases, one among employees and the remaining four among students.

Wesleyan University in Middletown reported six new cases last week, after only reporting a handful or no new cases for the previous three weeks. The school currently reports nine active cases among both employees and students.