By Camille Furst and Len La Rocca
Editor-in-Chief and Managing Editor
The College has confirmed nine positive cases of Covid-19 among students living in off-campus houses in the Ewing area, according to Dave Muha, the associate vice president of communications, marketing and brand management, in an interview with The Signal.
With the help of the College’s contact tracing system, 50 close contacts have been identified, some of which have been showing symptoms and are awaiting test results.
“It seems likely that that number of cases, the nine confirmed cases, will increase,” Muha said.
The students who tested positive reside in various houses throughout the Ewing area. Muha said that once the students tested positive for the virus, they contacted the College so that contact tracing could begin. The other 50 students who have been identified as close contacts have been recommended to self-quarantine.
“If you are a student who recently attended any large off-campus gatherings during the past week, we would strongly encourage you to begin self-quarantine and arrange for COVID testing,” said Rafia Siddiq, the College’s contact tracing coordinator, in an email to students at the College. “Please be mindful that for those living in Ewing, you are in a community with at-risk individuals,” Siddiq said.
Siddiq also reminded students that there is an amnesty for all those who report symptoms.
Test results take 3 to 7 days to return results on average, leaving the status infection in the close contacts unknown at this time.
“I can also tell you that some of those 50 are showing symptoms of Covid-19. They’ve either been tested and are awaiting test results or have not been tested, but are demonstrating symptoms,” Muha said.
