As a result of a surge of COVID-19 cases Monday, Nov. 16, St. Bonaventure University is implementing mitigation strategies for the final eight days of the in-person portion of the fall semester.
Twenty-four students tested positive Monday, bringing the active case total of students and employees to 34. The state’s threshold for closing a New York college campus is 100 active cases.
New restrictions include:
- The Richter Center will be closed for the rest of the semester for athletic activity (but will remain open for academic classes).
- All in-person student activities will be cancelled, virtual events and activities will continue as planned.
- The video game room in the Reilly Center and the Rathskeller games will be shut down (although the ‘Skeller will remain open for takeout food service).
- Open swim in the Reilly Center pool is cancelled.
- All Division I and club sport athletic practices have been halted except for the men’s and women’s basketball teams, which begin play next week.
- Dining services will continue as normal, although students are encouraged to take advantage of the takeout meal options available in the Rathskeller if they choose.
- Students with concerns about instructional delivery over the next week may contact their instructors. Students asked to isolate here or quarantine at home should inform their instructors of their situations. All classes transition to online delivery after the holiday break.
Students who have been identified as close contacts of the positive cases will be notified directly by the university or the Cattaraugus County Department of Public Health. These students will be allowed to fulfill their mandatory 14-day quarantine at home, as long as they are asymptomatic.
Contact information will be shared with a student’s home county so health officials there can follow up with students to ensure that quarantine protocols are being followed.
Direct contacts who present symptoms at the time they are asked to quarantine will be tested. If those test results are negative, they will be asked to leave campus to complete their quarantine at home.
Any student with a positive COVID test result will be required to complete their isolation period on campus or in their off-campus residence under the supervision of university staff members and the county Health Department.
Quarantine is a precautionary measure for direct contacts of a positive case. Asymptomatic people in quarantine only need to be tested if they present symptoms during their quarantine. Isolation is for those who test positive for COVID-19.
The university’s COVID-19 webpage, which houses the state tracker that the university is legally obligated to complete each day, is updated daily with the latest information on positive cases, quarantining and testing data at SBU.