URI Mulls Over Curfew To Curb Virus Cases, Greek Life On Lockdown
NARRAGANSETT-SOUTH KINGSTOWN, RI — The University of Rhode Island is getting serious about curbing COVID-19 cases at the school, both on and off campus. In a statement to students on Friday, the school mentioned possibly implementing a curfew to limit the number of large gathering happening at night.
In the past week, URI has tested over 5,000 people and seen 147 positive results, giving the school a 3 percent positive test rate for the last two weeks. In total, since Jan. 22, URI has tested 15,392 people and seen 313 positive cases.
The university is trying to get a handle on the students living on campus and remind students of social distancing and the importance of sticking to just 15 people.
"To be in a consistent small group is one of the most important things we can do to limit the spread of infection on campus. It will also make it easier for contact tracing should a student test positive. We ask our Rhody RamFam to create a small, consistent group of 15 and stick together," said Kathy Collins, Vice President of Student Affairs.
If large gatherings on campus continue to happen, the university plans on implementing a curfew from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. starting Oct. 16.
On-campus cases aren't the only thing on URI's radar as the school implements a mandatory 14-day shelter-in-place order for all Greek community students, on and off campus. The order started on Friday night and ends on Oct. 24.
The Greek community should not leave their residences, on and off campus houses, except for medically related trips. Students will take all of their classes virtually in the meantime and are not to come to campus or leave their Greek houses for any reason other than to access medical care and other essential services.
The decision comes after the university found that the Greek housing positivity rate was 11.17 percent, much higher than the on-campus population positivity rate of 0.65 percent and the off-campus student total population positivity rate of 3.83 percent.
URI added that while cases in the Greek community are high, there is no evidence of transmission of the virus in the academic settings, including classrooms and labs.
This article originally appeared on the Narragansett-South Kingstown Patch
