Liberty University Has Coronavirus Case; Region's Numbers Grow

Mark Hand
Updated ·3 min read

LYNCHBURG, VA — Liberty University, a private Christian school headed by Jerry Falwell Jr., who came under intense criticism last week for his decision to allow students to return to campus after their spring break, has reported its first new coronavirus case.

Officials worried that the return of a large number of students to Lynchburg from across the country and around the world would increase the chances of the coronavirus being brought into the community and then spreading among city residents and residents in the surrounding area. A couple days earlier, state health officials reported four positive cases of the coronavirus in Lynchburg, where the university is located.

At least three Liberty University students have been tested for the coronavirus, the school said in a statement Monday. One of those, a recent graduate who was taking additional online classes while living in the area with family, tested positive. Another student tested negative and one test was pending, the university said.

The City of Lynchburg has reported seven positive cases of the coronavirus, or COVID-19, as of Wednesday morning, according to the Virginia Department of Health.

On Monday, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam ordered all public and private higher education institutions to halt any in-person instruction amid the coronavirus crisis, a move likely directed at Liberty University, which had declined to completely stop on-campus teaching.

"After today’s order, Liberty will close down the only remaining in-person instruction, which had been in the School of Aeronautics, having previously moved all of its other classroom instruction to an online delivery format and either discontinued labs or used substitute formats," Liberty University said in a statement Monday.

Liberty University was founded as Lynchburg Baptist College in 1971 by evangelical minister Jerry Falwell, the father of the university's current president. The name was changed to Liberty Baptist College in 1976 before settling on its current name in 1984.

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The graduated student was tested for the coronavirus on March 24. The positive result was reported Sunday. While the student lives in Lynchburg with family, the location of infection cannot be pinpointed, in part because the graduated student traveled to Florida on business in the two-week period before the test, the university said.

As of last week, 1,900 Liberty University students were living in university residence halls. That number fell to 1,045 students this past Sunday.

Liberty University said that any students that had not checked into campus residence halls as of midnight Sunday for the first time since spring break will be quarantined for two weeks at the university's annex in single rooms with meals and other essentials delivered.

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This article originally appeared on the Fredericksburg Patch