Seton Hall University is urging caution among students as it reports rising cases in October that the university has traced to athletic groups and a Greek organization, according to the university.
As of Saturday, 27 students at the Essex County university have tested positive this month, the vast majority of the 37 cases the university has reported since its July 9 fall reopening and 44 since the start of the pandemic. Two employees also have tested positive.
University officials said in the update the rising cases do not yet warrant a transition to full remote instruction but that students should remain vigilant and avoid on- and off-campus gatherings, particularly as Halloween approaches.
“Minor transgressions by a few can result in significant consequences for the entire university. While the current incident rate does not warrant pivoting to fully remote instruction, additional clusters may well require such action,” the vice president of Student Services, Shawna Cooper-Gibson, and interim vice president of the Division of University Advancement, Matthew Borowick, said in a news statement.
Seton Hall’s coronavirus dashboard indicates seven students from the South Orange campus tested positive on Saturday, including two students who live on campus and five who live off campus. The students who live on-campus are in isolation in university housing, according to the release.
The university reported a total of 22 students tested positive last week. All cases among students were identified through the university’s testing protocols, according to the release.
“The majority of the recent cases are primarily related to two clusters, one among athletic teams and the other within a Greek organization,” the statement said.
Students who reside on campus and test positive are moved to isolation at the Ora Manor apartments while those who are exposed are moved there to quarantine.
Cases are rising across the state and country. On Sunday, New Jersey reported 1,140 new cases. The figure is a slight decline from Saturday, when 1,994 new cases reported marked the highest single-day total since May 6.
The state has now seen 228,468 total cases and 16,285 deaths attributed to the virus.
Seton Hall’s rising numbers are quite unlike the flare up earlier this month at Monmouth University, where 125 cases were traced to an off-campus “super-spreader event” at a private residence that ultimately shut down in-person classes and athletic activities, officials said.
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Samantha Marcus may be reached at smarcus@njadvancemedia.com.