BU puts in new rules after jump in cases
Boston University officials are reporting a “worrisome” increase in coronavirus cases over the last week, sparking the campus to implement new rules on Thursday.
The university has reported 34 virus cases in the last week — compared to eight cases the week before.
“Although we have seen low rates of positive tests so far, our COVID dashboard shows a worrisome increase in the daily numbers of cases among our student body, as well as our staff, over the last week,” BU officials wrote to the campus community this week.
“Although the number of cases per day is still relatively low, our growing concern is also driven by the number of cases in Massachusetts and lower than targeted compliance with the mandatory requirement for testing and daily symptom attestation,” the officials added.
The rising BU cases have been tied to social gatherings, in addition to personal travel and off-campus visits with family and friends — during which people did not wear masks, and failed to keep their distance.
BU officials emphasized that students follow the university’s testing program, avoid gatherings, wear masks, and submit a daily symptom screening report, called an attestation, through Boston University Healthway each day.
Beginning on Thursday, students will need a green daily attestation badge to enter dining halls, the George Sherman Union and several other public spaces on campus.
“We hope this will be a reminder to everyone of the importance of daily symptom attestation and testing for keeping our campus safe,” the officials wrote.
“It is the responsibility of everyone in our community to minimize the spread of COVID-19,” they added. “We encourage faculty to participate in this effort by asking students to show their green badges as they enter classrooms. Similarly, we are asking managers of student-facing services to put into place a practice of asking students to show green badges when entering a department’s space.”