A Vermont college blames Halloween parties for COVID outbreak
“To be in this situation after such a well-managed semester is heartbreaking.”
Officials at a college in Colchester, Vermont, are blaming Halloween parties for a COVID outbreak, which comes as Vermont has reported a record number of coronavirus cases over the past week.
The virus is surging in Vermont as more people gather inside to avoid the cold weather. Experts warn that holiday gatherings could lead to more cases this winter.
New daily cases have increased by 51% over the past two weeks, according to a New York Times database. Hospitalizations are also trending up, fueling anxiety about the state’s hospital capacity as winter approaches.
Vermont is testing for COVID more than most states, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Last week, its Republican governor, Phil Scott, said in a statement that while testing had increased and the state’s positivity rate had stayed roughly the same, Vermonters needed to take all precautions they could. And he warned that if cases remain as high as they are it “would be a significant strain” on the state’s hospitals.
At Saint Michael’s College, a liberal arts school north of Burlington, reported that 77 students tested positive for the virus this week and last week, according to the college’s COVID-19 dashboard. In letters to the school, Lorraine Sterritt, the college president, said that Halloween parties fueled the outbreak.
“We were doing really well as a community up to the point where there were numerous Halloween parties where students were unmasked and in close contact,” she said in the letter Sunday.
Before the post-Halloween surge, the college had reported 11 cases between Aug. 27 and Oct. 22, according to the dashboard. Saint Michael’s has about 1,700 students.
“To be in this situation after such a well-managed semester is heartbreaking,” Sterritt said in a letter Friday. “It is imperative that everyone make wise choices.”
The college on Sunday suspended “in-person student social gatherings” through Thanksgiving and asked that students limit off-campus travel. The school moved its classes online Friday amid the outbreak, but Sterritt said classes would continue in-person this week.
The outbreak at Saint Michael’s comes as Vermont grapples with its highest number of new cases since the pandemic began, according to the Times database. Though Vermont has one of the highest vaccination rates in the country, cases have risen sharply since the vaccines became widely available.
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