BALTIMORE — Johns Hopkins University is taking a two day break from in-person classes due to a "cluster" of COVID-19 cases among students.
JHU said they have decided to suspend in-person undergraduate classes on the Homewood campus and other in-person activities involving Homewood undergraduates for the next two days, starting Wednesday morning, after detecting a cluster of COVID-19 among undergraduate students.
At this time, they are seeing 30 undergraduates out of a population of 6,000 who tested positive in their COVID screening Tuesday and Wednesday.
The preliminary investigation suggests the issue is associated with off-campus social gatherings over the weekend.
A number of the students who tested positive live in Charles Commons, and many are student athletes. Those who tested positive and live in residence halls have been transferred to isolation housing, and others are isolating in place off campus.
During the pause in on-campus activities, JHU is taking several steps to confirm the scope of the cluster and to contain it:
- Contact tracing is underway to help determine how this cluster occurred and to reduce its spread.
- As many additional undergraduates will be tested as possible today and tomorrow.
- All residents of Charles Commons will be ordered to self-quarantine and to be tested today.
- All student athletes, whether living on or off campus, will be ordered to self-quarantine and to be tested today.
- They are offering extra testing to Homewood and student housing staff.
- Campus facilities, including the library and the temporary structure on the Freshman Quad, will be closed.
