UConn bars students from off-campus events amid virus spike

The University of Connecticut on Friday ordered residential students in Storrs to stay away from all off-campus social gatherings until the middle of next week amid a spike in COVID-19 cases.

UConn reported 15 new positive tests for the new coronavirus on Friday, the highest single-day number since late September. Twelve of those were from students, including nine who live off-campus.

UConn Dean of Students Eleanor Daugherty sent an email Friday saying that anyone living on campus and caught attending an off-campus party over the Halloween weekend will be subject to school discipline. She said the prohibition, which runs through Nov. 4, does not include voting on Tuesday.

“On campus, we continue to be healthy and there is no indication in the wastewater or in testing results that we are seeing a comparable increase in COVID-19,” she wrote. “It is also important to note that the recent increase in off-campus positive cases is not affiliated with an event or gathering. This is the reality of COVID-19 as it surges throughout the state of Connecticut, our country, and our world.”

The latest 14-day average positivity rate in Connecticut is 3.06%. State health departments are calculating positivity rate differently across the country, but for Connecticut, The Associated Press calculates the rate by dividing new cases by test specimens using data from The COVID Tracking Project from Oct. 15-29.

Gov. Ned Lamont’s office has said the number of cases has been rising steadily in recent days, including a one-day rate of 6.1% on Thursday. Friday’s rate was back down to 2.5%.

But the state also continued to see an increase in hospitalizations, up by eight on Friday to 329. Lamont’s office also reported seven additional COVID-19 related deaths, bringing the state’s total during the pandemic to 4,616.

Several communities, including Bridgeport and New Haven have decided to roll-back from Phase 3 of Connecticut’s reopening plan to Phase 2 restrictions because of rising cases there.

Bridgeport announced Friday that it will switch from in-person schooling to a hybrid model on Nov. 9, with students going into their classrooms twice a week and learning at home the other three days.

The 14-day rolling average of the positivity rate in Connecticut has risen over the past two weeks from 1.5% on Oct. 14.