Wright State reports first COVID-19 cases

Credit: Ismail Turay Jr.

Credit: Ismail Turay Jr.

Wright State University on Tuesday reported its first positive COVID-19 cases of the fall semester.

There are four students and one employee who tested positive for the novel coronavirus, according to the university’s COVID-19 dashboard.

All of the COVID-19 cases came from the Dayton campus, Seth Bauguess, university spokesman said.

The university completed its first week of classes last week without reporting any positive cases. The fall semester began Aug. 24 with mostly remote learning and fewer students on campus.

About 70 percent of classes are online, a large number of students are commuters and no students have roommates in the dormitories that are at less than half capacity, Bauguess said last week. The small percentage of students who are on campus are encouraged to get tested if they feel ill, he said.

“With the holiday weekend approaching, I ask each of you to remain vigilant in helping stop the spread of COVID-19,” interim Provost Douglas Leaman said to students and employees in an email to campus. “We must all work together. Thank you for helping keep our Wright State community safe.”

The Wright State Office of Environmental Health and Safety reports cases it is able to verify from several sources, including Student Health Services at Wright State Physicians, public health agencies and the university’s COVID-19 self-reporting portal.

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