Merrimack College has made a shift to remote learning for the next five days as nearly 50 additional students have tested positive for the coronavirus after a cluster emerged in a dorm last week.
“The decision has been made for the campus to shift temporarily to remote learning for the next five days from Monday, September 28, 2020 through Friday October 2, 2020, to protect our community and restore our sense of safety,” the school wrote in a letter to the campus community.
Seventeen students in Monican Hall were initially found infected with the virus, triggering the North Andover campus to quarantine more than 250 students who live in the dorm.
Then, as a result of testing Monican Hall residents before they entered quarantine, the college has identified 47 more cases from the dorm cluster.
In addition, another 12 isolated cases have been identified including three among commuters, one employee and eight among residential students.
While learning has shifted to a remote format, the campus will remain open, officials said.
“The campus will remain open and operational, resident halls will be fully open (except for Monican), residential students can and should stay on campus, testing will be ramped up, food service will be fully operational and all students who are not in isolation or quarantine…may return to campus anytime during the week,” the letter read.
Students who remain on campus are required to be tested on Monday.
“We completely understand the desire for students to leave the campus based on last week’s events, as well as the faculty’s decision to move classes to remote formats out of an abundance of caution,” the letter said.
More than 250 of the students are in isolation or quarantine off of the campus, which is the college’s COVID-19 policy. The remaining Monican Hall residents who are quarantining or isolating on campus are in campus-designated quarantine spaces.
“What the Monican cluster has taught us is that COVID-19 is very complex and the impact can be swift and large,” school officials wrote.
The shift to remote classes will enable the school to make the effort to “flush” the virus from campus.
“This entire process has given the College the opportunity to think about how best to support the campus community in ways we never imagined before,” the school wrote.
Officials anticipate a return to in-person learning October 5.
For more details, read the school’s letter to the campus community here.
