c/o Alexandra Turtil, Assistant Photo Editor

The University’s COVID-19 positivity rate increased to 0.24% from 0.12% on Thursday, Nov. 4. As of Monday, Nov. 8, there are 15 students and two faculty members who have tested positive for COVID-19 on campus. 

In an all-campus email sent on Friday, Nov. 5, Medical Director Dr. Tom McLarney and Dean of Students Rick Culliton attributed the increase in COVID-19 cases to fall break travel and a high concentration of visitors to campus for Homecoming/Family Weekend.

President Michael Roth ’78 expressed that while the uptick in cases is concerning, on the whole, the University is still doing very well in terms of COVID-19 numbers. 

“If you had said to me in August, ‘Would this be a good number to have?’ I’d say yeah, this is fine,” Roth said. “You have to learn to live with some people testing positive for COVID. We should be very mindful of the fact that there’s been a small uptick in cases, but from a base of zero. So we want people to be prudent, to wear masks indoors.”

Roth also added that the University has no plan to shut down early because the positivity rate is not near the University’s COVID-19 capacity. 

“We have capacity to deal with more cases should they arise,” Roth said. “Most importantly, we want to make sure people don’t get sick. So far, we’ve been fortunate that we’ve been able to keep people healthy. We know how to curtail the spread of COVID, so I think doing the things we know how to do should keep the campus healthy.”

McLarney and Culliton urged students to continue to follow COVID-19 procedures and take extra precautions, especially over the weekend, to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

“We also want to impress upon you the importance of wearing your mask indoors…when you are with other students,” they wrote in an all-campus email. “We’d like to do everything we can to reduce the likelihood of further spread of COVID through the community.” 

Hallie Sternberg can be reached at hsternberg@wesleyan.edu or on Twitter @halsternberg.