COVID-19 cases rise as College of Wooster students wrap up spring semester

Bryce Buyakie, The Daily Record
·3 min read
With COVID-19 cases spiking on the College of Wooster campus, President Sarah Bolton announced a limited mask policy last week and amended it on Sunday advising students to avoid dining halls in favor of the Lowry Center and to eat outside.
With COVID-19 cases spiking on the College of Wooster campus, President Sarah Bolton announced a limited mask policy last week and amended it on Sunday advising students to avoid dining halls in favor of the Lowry Center and to eat outside.

WOOSTER – Coronavirus cases rose to new levels on the College of Wooster campus at the start of May and as students enter final exam week.

In the first five days of May, 45 students tested positive for COVID-19, President Sarah Bolton told the campus community over the weekend.

Cases on the rise: College of Wooster implements mask mandate following COVID-19 outbreaks

This is the largest recorded spike at the college this semester.

With this on-campus outbreak, Bolton announced a limited mask policy last week but amended it on Sunday advising students to avoid dining halls in favor of the Lowry Center and to eat outside.

"(A dining hall) is a group space where most are unmasked," she told students.

As the college enters exam week, it is up to individual faculty members to change in-person exam plans.

"If you are not staying for commencement or the summer, we encourage you to consider leaving campus sooner than originally planned if it works for you to do so," she said. "You may find you can go home earlier than your original plans if some of your in-class exams become take-home."

While the cases at the college increase, a similar U.S. trend can be seen, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 data.

These new cases come as the U.S. nears a million COVID-19 deaths, according to John Hopkins University, while data compiled by NBC News shows that number surpassing 1 million.

Increasing cases across the nation

Made with Flourish
Made with Flourish

Cases are rising across the board but have not reached anywhere near the holiday highs of December and January.

New cases on the College of Wooster campus started the semester at 31. Many students and faculty returned from winter break and used rapid and PCR tests, according to the college's COVID-19 dashboard.

By the end of March, no cases were reported for nearly three weeks, but that changed by mid-April when new cases rose to 25. One week later, 45 new cases were recorded.

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A mask order is in effect for students and staff at the College of Wooster due to a spike in COVID-19 cases.
A mask order is in effect for students and staff at the College of Wooster due to a spike in COVID-19 cases.

Wayne County followed this trend per Ohio Department of Health data.

Cases have gradually risen since the end of April. The Wayne County Health Department reported 40 new cases between April 17 and 24, with 50 more the following week.

No new deaths were reported by the county.

Like the college and county, the U.S. and Ohio have followed this trend since the start of April.

New daily cases in Ohio started April at around 500 and rose to a high of 1,800 in positive tests in one day on May 2, according to the ODH.

Across the U.S. new cases continue to climb. A peak of over 100,000 cases was recorded by the CDC on May 4.

Two days later, that number dropped to over 81,000 and rose to 97,000 by May 8.

Reach Bryce by email at bbuyakie@gannett.com

On Twitter: @Bryce_Buyakie

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: COVID-19 cases rise at College of Wooster as students enter exam week