Rider coronavirus cases decrease

By Austin Ferguson

Rider University cut its positive student COVID-19 cases in half after recording a semester-high 16 positive cases a week prior, according to the university’s online dashboard.

The university’s dashboard registered eight student cases of COVID-19, six on campus and two off campus, spanning from March 1 to March 7.

Despite the decline in positive cases, both quarantine and isolation numbers rose in the first week of March. As of March 5, a semester-high 33 students were in quarantine housing, 27 of which were quarantined off campus, according to the university’s dashboard. As of March 5, 12 students were in isolation, or quarantined due to a confirmed positive COVID-19 test, matching the highest number of isolated students this semester.

Rider Vice President for Strategic Initiatives and Planning and Secretary to the Board, Debbie Stasolla, attributed the rise in quarantine numbers to effective contact tracing of students when positive cases are returned.

“The contact tracing will identify close contact and as soon as someone is identified, they have to quarantine,” Stasolla said.