St. Joseph’s College in Standish is adding new restrictions — including fining students for holding small gatherings — after the school reported a new outbreak of COVID-19.
In a message to students on Monday, the school reported six positive cases. Another 22 people are in quarantine, taking up half of the school’s designated isolation space.
Spokesperson Oliver Griswold says the school has imposed several new restrictions, including allowing only three people in a dorm room at any one time and fining students $150 for hosting gatherings that violate rules.
“There are a few students that are still doing what they normally do. And we are not in normal times right now. We have a pretty high incidence rate around campus, so we need to use all the tools at our disposal to keep folks safe,” he says.
Griswold says that while the vast majority of students were following health guidelines, the school is still imposing the restrictions.
“While we certainly honor and applaud all the students doing the right thing — and some, in fact, asked us to make these changes -— we really need universal compliance and adherence to these universal public health guidelines to get to the end of the semester,” he says.
Last fall, the school had to send students home early after an outbreak on campus. This semester, officials are now testing students weekly in hopes of detecting the virus earlier.
