SRU student tests positive for COVID-19
A Slippery Rock University student has tested positive for COVID-19.
“We anticipated this,” said William Behre, SRU president. “I don't think any of us thought we would get through the semester without positive cases, and that's why we built the infrastructure we have.”
Behre said proper actions have been taken to isolate the student, who lived off-campus, and to notify those who came into contact with the student.
The college's first COVID-19 case this semester was noted Thursday on a new webpage on the school's site that tracks new confirmed cases and cumulative cases in two categories, students and faculty or staff.
Another college in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, Bloomsburg University, has a similar dashboard on its website. The central Pennsylvania university reported that 10 students tested positive for the virus this week.
It is unclear whether the SRU student who tested positive will reflect in the county's state-tracked coronavirus statistics. The Pennsylvania Department of Health attributes a case or death to whichever municipality is listed as the person's permanent residence.
According to Thursday's report by the Department of Health, Butler County added five cases of COVID-19. The county now has a total of 678 confirmed cases of the virus since the pandemic began. The county's death toll remains at 17.
Heading into this school year, SRU had partnered with Allegheny Health Network to facilitate testing students and perform ongoing reviews of the school's procedures.
According to Behre, the university is testing only symptomatic people, as recommended by AHN, but in this case the test and contact tracing procedures went smoothly.
“The student self-reported. Health Services issued a test. The test came back in a timely fashion. We gave the student medical advice,” Behre said. “It all seems to be working.”
The student is being monitored from a distance by the university's health services, which will also serve as a point of contact if the student needs further services.
If the student had been on campus, the student would have had a meal plan, and the university would have supplied the student multiple meals each day to honor that.
According to Behre, the student visited campus briefly to drop off paperwork, but was wearing a mask, as were the staff members.
After notifying the staff, Behre sent an email to the student body notifying them of the first case on campus.
“I think we have a responsibility to let folks know,” he said. “Trust in situations like this is very important.”
Behre said he wants the students to understand the virus is real and this will not be the last case of COVID-19 on campus, but that the situation doesn't warrant panic.
“I don't want to see them sick. I don't want to see them have organ damage,” Behre said. “They don't have to fear this disease, but they have to respect it.”
