BOSTON (AP) - Students at a Massachusetts university have been told to shelter in place for a week in response to a cluster of coronavirus cases on campus.
The order at Assumption University in Worcester took effect Friday and comes after eight new positive cases among students in the past week, school officials said. In addition, more than 100 students are in quarantine.
Students will be restricted to their dorm rooms except for medical emergencies, twice-a-week COVID tests, and to pick up meals, President Francesco Cesareo said in a statement. Classes will continue remotely.
Students who violate the shelter-in-place order will be sent home, according to the university. If they leave campus on their own, they will not be able to return until January.
“I realize the inconvenience that the shelter-in-place will cause students, faculty and staff, however this mutual decision by the Worcester Department of Public Health and the university is a necessary step to promote the health and safety of the campus and Worcester communities,” Cesareo said.
The Roman Catholic school has about 2,400 students.
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HIGH RISK COMMUNITIES
The number of Massachusetts communities considered at high-risk for the spread of the coronavirus has grown to 121, up from 77 a week ago, according to state data released Thursday.
Communities in the high-risk category are colored red in a statewide map and have seen on average more than eight new cases each day per 100,000 residents over a 14-day period.
The latest map is based on data collected from Oct. 11 to Oct. 24.
Most of the state’s largest cities are in the red, as are many small towns including Buckland, Berkley and Townsend.
Ten cities and towns were downgraded from high-risk to moderate-risk.
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VIRUS BY THE NUMBERS
The number of new confirmed coronavirus cases in Massachusetts surpassed the 1,000 mark for the seventh consecutive day on Friday, according to the state Department of Public Health.
The 1,488 cases on Friday was the highest single-day total since the spring.
The latest average positivity rate in Massachusetts is 1.7%. State health departments are calculating positivity rate differently across the country, but for Massachusetts the AP calculates the rate by dividing new cases by test specimens using data from The COVID Tracking Project.
The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Massachusetts has risen over the past two weeks from more than 663 on Oct. 15 to almost 1,193 on Thursday.
The state also reported 23 additional deaths attributed to the virus, for a death toll of 9,750.
The number of hospitalizations increased to 571, 10 more than the previous day. There were also 106 patients in intensive care.
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