By Meghan Guberman, Staff Writer
Haverford had its first two positive student COVID-19 cases last Friday (September 25). Four weeks into the semester, and over a month since the first students arrived, Haverford appears to be handling the return to on-campus learning successfully.
These two cases were the first positive tests since two faculty tested positive in late August. Both faculty have since recovered. The two students are in isolation with no symptoms, and five others who came in close contact with the positive students have also been placed in temporary isolation for testing.
All 980 students living on campus and 121 commuter students have been tested at least three times—before and after arrival on campus, as well as last week, when the two new positive cases were detected. Both students and faculty have taken additional precautions to limit the spread of COVID-19, from cancelling campus-wide events like movie screenings, to postponing in-person voter registration, to asking clubs to switch to Zoom meetings in order to keep the positivity rate at or below the current 0.2%.
While positive cases on campus may bring additional anxiety to students, our continued commitment to social distancing, masking, and hand-washing has allowed us to keep the school open and maintain no symptomatic cases since the outbreak began. Meanwhile, thousands of colleges across the country have had to close their campuses and switch to entirely remote learning. As of September 25, over 1000 colleges have reported 130,000+ cases of COVID-19 this year as campuses become a new hotspot of the pandemic.
With over 80% of students having received their flu vaccines and additional testing being scheduled to occur at regular intervals, Haverford is working to prepare for a potential second wave this winter. Looking ahead, President Wendy Raymond has also announced plans for the spring semester to start remotely for the first two weeks, forgoing the usual spring break.
Pictured: students receiving regular surveillance tests for COVID-19 in Founders Hall. Image credit: Adrian Velonis.
