11 new coronavirus cases at Illinois Wesleyan University

Posted on August 24, 2020
2.4% of the student population has tested positive for COVID-19, according to the university. (Facebook/Illinois Wesleyan University)

 

By Neil Doyle

BLOOMINGTON – Officials at Illinois Wesleyan University announced 11 additional students have tested positive for coronavirus.

“We determined that all 11 new cases are connected to the outbreak announced last week, stemming from off-campus social gatherings in the week before classes began, where the consistent use of masks and physical distancing did not occur,” according to a news release Monday.

The outbreak now consists of 30 students.

COVID-19 Cases Among Illinois Wesleyan Students:

  • Total positive cases confirmed during universal baseline testing: 10
  • Total positive cases confirmed through community spread: 30 (28 living in non-University owned housing, 2 living in University-owned housing)
  • Total positive cases during the fall semester (baseline + community spread): 40
  • 2.4% of IWU’s student population has tested positive for COVID-19

The university said many of the students who tested positive have reported COVID-19 symptoms, while some are asymptomatic.

All students who tested positive are either returning home, staying in off-campus housing to isolate, or are isolating off campus in university-provided quarantine space.

Neil Doyle can be reached at [email protected]

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…