31 Johnson & Wales students test positive for coronavirus, 100 others in quarantine
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) – Johnson & Wales University confirmed Wednesday night that 31 off-campus students have tested positive for coronavirus.
In an emailed statement, JWU Providence Campus President Marie Bernardo-Sousa LP.D. said the students were tested following the outbreak at Providence College.
“Since mid-September, when we learned of an outbreak of COVID-19 among college students living off campus in Providence, JWU has been testing our students who also live in those city neighborhoods,” wrote Bernardo-Sousa.
The 31 students have mild symptoms and are in isolation on and off campus, the school said.
Approximately 100 other students found to be in close contact with the positive students tested negative for COVID-19 but must still quarantine for 14 days. The school said they can choose to either quarantine in a residence hall or go home as long as they can travel safely.
“JWU Health Services continues to work with students to ensure they are able to quarantine safely either on campus or off campus. We remain in regular contact with the Rhode Island Department of Health as we work to complete contact tracing and confirm all students impacted adhere to the protocols in place,” JWU spokesman Ryan Crowley said Thursday.
“I’m not gonna lie, I was kind of nervous at first, but everybody has been trying to be safe by wearing masks,” said first-year JWU student Kiru Nosike on attending classes during the outbreak.
Nosike lives on-campus and said the rules there are strict.
“They’ve been cracking down on us, like, socially distancing, wearing our masks, washing our hands. They have stations of hand sanitizer almost everywhere, and all the RA’s on each floor make sure that in the rooms there’s no more than, like, two people.”
She said she hadn’t heard of any JWU students partying on or off-campus, but is aware of those partying at other schools.
“I think it’s mainly, like, partying and just not wearing masks and practicing social distancing,” Nosike said. “For the other colleges around that, like, haven’t been being safe, I hope that they can learn from this and realize that people’s lives are at stake here.”
As for those living in the neighborhood where Providence College and Johnson & Wales students live, people we spoke to say they’re nervous.
“She’s very nervous. She won’t come out of the house. She’s… afraid,” said Gayle of Warwick, whose mother-in-law lives in the Elmhurst neighborhood. Gayle said her mother-in-law hasn’t left her house in months as she’s surrounded by students.
“This area… she’s surrounded by students. Absolutely. There’s only maybe two houses on this street that are occupied by people other than students,” Gayle said. “She doesn’t like how they gather. Like, across the street from her a couple weeks ago, there were about 100 kids partying, and then after that, that’s when it came out that so many kids at PC tested positive.”
The university said they will continue to conduct testing in areas considered “hot spots” to further protect students and the community.
©WLNE-TV/ABC6 2020
