Hundreds of Colorado College freshmen and other students living in main dorms on campus are now in quarantine, due to positive COVID-19 cases.
With 10 students receiving positive results for the virus last week, Colorado College over the weekend placed two large dorms, Mathias and South halls, on quarantine, officials announced.
The decision came on Saturday, one day before some 150 freshmen in another dorm, Loomis Hall, were released from a two-week quarantine that had started Aug. 16.
Newly quarantined students must remain in their rooms until Sept. 12, according to an online notice. Their meals will be delivered and they will attend classes virtually.
The 10 new infections are related, the campus email said, and the decision to quarantine was based on the recommendation of El Paso County Public Health. The 10 students who have the virus are in isolation, officials said.
Colorado College administrators have been working with local public health officials before bringing students back to campus, said El Paso County spokeswoman Natalie Sosa.
"We continue to work closely with Colorado College staff as they perform isolation and quarantine measures on campus," she said in an email. "Isolation and quarantine help control the spread of the disease by preventing further exposure."
The private liberal arts school of about 2,200 students began the fall semester with a staggered start, bringing freshmen and new students to the campus first, before allowing older students to return.
About 800 students were living on campus as of Aug. 25, county health department statistics show. About half of enrolled students have elected to start the new school year doing remote learning.
Students living in Mathias and South halls said they heard the news about the quarantine in the same email that was sent to the entire campus.
“We got the email, and it was like, oh my gosh,” quarantined South resident Kelby Kuo told The CC COVID-19 Reporting Project, a project of student journalists at the school. “Two of the big three dorms are in quarantine, and that’s basically like over a quarter of the school, which is kind of insane.”
Loomis Hall residents were released from quarantine on Aug. 30, after spending 14 days in their rooms.
Students being sequestered are let outside for an hour a day for solitary activities, such as studying, reading or drawing. They are under supervision during that time and must observe physical distancing. Exercising outdoors is prohibited, according to college spokeswoman Leslie Weddell, though a student in a prior quarantine said yoga had been allowed.
Quarantined students are receiving three meals a day in one delivery, and snacks are available in buildings, Weddell said. Activity kits with arts and crafts, games and movement projects also are available.
All students are being tested for coronavirus as they arrive on campus for the fall semester. One student tested positive during move-in and orientation that started in mid-August, the first week the campus reopened for students.
The initial infected student, who officials said did not obey what they called "enhanced" pandemic restrictions that include social distancing and wearing face coverings inside and outside buildings, reportedly was suspended, other students said. College officials would not confirm that.
“We do not discuss conduct matters as that is a violation of student privacy,” Weddell said.
Classes for the fall semester started Aug. 24.
Random COVID-19 testing is continuing at an on-campus site, officials said.
“It kind of felt like it was coming,” South Hall resident Jeremy Lewis told The CC COVID-19 Reporting Project.
Lewis arrived on campus Aug. 16 and was supposed to live in Loomis Hall. But after hearing of a possible lockdown at Loomis, he was able to move to South Hall.
Students have been given the choice of returning home to quarantine, officials said, but must drive and not fly or take other public transportation, to get back home.
A residential advisor at Mathias estimated to the the CC COVID-19 Reporting Project that between one-third and one-half of Mathias residents are quarantining off campus. Mathias has 225 students who have checked in for the fall semester and South has 213, Weddell said, although some have left to quarantine at home.
