The infected student represents about 1% of the private, liberal arts college’s on-campus population. The school, located in Yellow Springs, has a total of 116 full-time students. The fall quarter started on Aug. 31.
“At nine weeks into the quarter, we have been fortunate to have only one case of COVID-19 so far, especially with the rapid rise of cases in the Miami Valley," said Mila Cooper, vice president for student affairs. "Students, faculty and staff are cooperating with our testing guidelines, and we are proud of everyone in our community who has worked so hard to keep our community safe.”
Prior to the start of the quarter, students, faculty and staff were asked to get tested before arriving on campus, the school said in August. In addition, students were tested as they arrived on campus. That was followed by mandatory testing of all students and employees at the end of September.
At the the beginning of October, the institution started randomly testing 5% each of students and employees weekly, per Gov. Mike DeWine’s orders, Christine Reedy, assistant communications director, said Friday.
She declined to say if the college learned about the infected student as a result of the random testing or if the individual lives in residential halls. Releasing those details could reveal the student’s identity, given the size of the college, she said.
The fall quarter will end on Tuesday, Reedy said, and the school hopes to resume in-person instructions when classes resume in January, but the plan’s fluid at the moment.
Antioch is the last area institution that has students living on campus to report a COVID-19 case. All others, including the University of Dayton, Cedarville University, Wright State University and Central State University, have reported cases since August. UD has been affected the most with nearly 1,445 cases, including one death, since August.
All of Wilberforce University’s classes are remote this semester.
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