BOSTON (WHDH) - Emerson College is taking extra precautions to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus following an increase in positive cases.
From March 29 to April 4, there were 26 positive tests reported at the college, according to its COVID-19 dashboard.
Contact tracing is ongoing with 24 people in isolation on campus and 38 people in quarantine as of Wednesday.
Erik Muurisepp, Assistant Vice President of Campus Life and COVID-19 Lead, wrote in a letter to the Emerson community Wednesday that they consulted with the Boston Public Health Commission and Tufts Medical Center to figure out what actions they could take to curb the spread.
All in-person student activities and gatherings, including athletics, are now prohibited through the end of April 14, Muurisepp said.
The dining center is offering grab-and-go at all stations and food must be taken out of the facility to be eaten.
The Fitness Center at 52 Summer St. is closed for at least the next seven days, and 172 Tremont St. remains open for individual room reservations only with group meetings prohibited.
The library is available for socially-distanced study only with reserved study spaces available.
Students are not allowed to travel through April 14.
They are told to only leave their residence hall room or off-campus residences to attend in-person classes, study in the library, pick up food, for physical exercise, to seek medical care, participate in required COVID-19 testing, or go to and from employment.
Students are also asked not to attend social events or gatherings and to not host any guests.
Visiting other residential rooms or lounges other than the one a student resides in is not permitted.
Students are advised to regularly complete the daily symptom check, even while limiting their movement for the next seven days.
The testing center remains open and students are required to adhere to their testing cohort schedule.
“We have a few more weeks before the close of the spring term, and we encourage everyone to remain vigilant, properly wear your masks when you are in the company of people with whom you do not live, keep physical distance at all times, practice healthy hand hygiene, and continue to follow the testing protocol we have put in place,” Muurisepp wrote.
The college is continuing to monitor the situation on campus.
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