RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Virginia Commonwealth University has confirmed to 8News that they have 25 confirmed COVID-19 student cases. According to the univeristy, 11 of those students live on campus and are in isolation.
Eleven VCU employees have also tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
“Of the entry testing we’ve conducted for residential students before they arrived on campus, 4,380 tested negative and 15 tested positive,” Michael Porter, VCU Associate Vice President for Public Affairs, said today in an email.
Porter also noted that each time there is a confirmed COVID-19 cases at the university, student health or employee health contacts people who have been in contact with the infected individual and they are asked to begin two weeks of self-quarantine and health monitoring. The university is also working on a public-facing dashboard that will show the number of confirmed cases, testing numbers and more.
Students moved into VCU housing less than a week ago. And while most VCU students have online classes, some are participating in in-person classes as well.
Stephen Leuck, a freshman at VCU, told 8News his concern isn’t with contracting the virus but rather spreading it.
“We’re just worried about the professors and stuff since they’re more susceptible to the disease and stuff,” Leuck said.
Vinita Patel, also a freshman at VCU, says students will face a new reality as campus comes back to life.
“It’s hard to make new friends because we have the mask on,” she said.
Freshman Quynh-Thi Tran agrees.
“It’s kind of crazy because half our classes are in person and half our classes are online,” Thi Tran said.
Parent Martha Eddy appreciates the safety measures VCU has in place.
“It is a little concerning, but at the same time, VCU is doing a good job by testing everybody,” Eddy said. “They put a lot of measures in place. They’ve set aside quarantine and isolation facilities for the students and I’m sure they’re doing the same thing for the staff and you really can’t get better medical care than you can at VCU.”
Correction: A quote attributed to Martha Eddy has been updated.
