Four Illinois Wesleyan University students tested positive for the coronavirus when they returned to campus for the start of the school year.
As part of IWU’s plans for a mix of in-person and online instruction during the fall semester, it required all students to get tested for the virus upon their arrival. The university said the four positive cases came from 709 tests administered to students, indicating a positivity rate of 0.56%.
McLean County’s seven-day positivity rate currently stands at 1.9%. The positivity rate for Illinois’ Region 2, which includes McLean and much of west-central Illinois, stood at 5.5% as of Monday.
IWU officials said three of the students are on-campus residents and one lives off-campus. Each has been sent home to isolate. None of the students displayed COVID-19 symptoms.
In a news release fromKarla Carney-Hall, IWU’s dean of students, and Interim Executive Director of Health and Counseling Vickie Folse, the university said it plans to test about 750 more students upon their arrival on campus. They said ongoing surveillance testing will be conducted throughout the semester.
“Each week, 5 to 10% of the entire student body will be retested to monitor the potential emergence of positive COVID-19 cases on campus,” the statement said.
Carney-Hall and Folse said Pekin-based Reditus Laboratories has been returning test results within 24 to 48 hours. Reditus is the same company that conducts daily COVID testing at the Interstate Center and which will do testing at Illinois State University.
They said IWU is following protocols that exceed CDC guidelines to protect the health of the campus community.
“The level of risk in our campus environment depends on individuals following the university's health protocols, which have been identified as the best mitigation strategies for preventing spread of the virus,” the statement said.
Previously, IWU said it would house some students in hotels becausethere wouldn’t be enough room in socially-distanced residence halls to house everyone on campus. John Twork, IWU assistant director of communications, said the university will put up fewer than 100 students at the Marriott Hotel and Conference Center in Normal.
The fall semester begins Aug. 17.
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