Long Beach State has a total of 17 positive cases of the coronavirus linked to campus, university officials confirmed Tuesday.
These cases, according to Jeff Cook, associate vice president of strategic communications, are a result of “social gatherings attended by Beach students over the past month in violation of prevailing public-health guidance and directives from the university.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, an additional 12 CSULB students have tested positive following the diagnosis of five students announced Saturday.
Of the total positive cases, 10 have been confirmed to be on-campus residents and seven live off campus.
According to Cook, 206 of the 328 housing students remain on campus at this time.
“Those living off campus have been asked to self-isolate in coordination with public health officials,” Cook said. “On-campus residents have been in quarantine since Saturday, with those community members who are positive now living in a separate building.”
On Saturday, all on-campus residents were forced to quarantine in their rooms in Parkside College as they await the results of coronavirus testing and contact tracing.
“At this point they should not be leaving their residence halls,” said Corry Colonna, director of Housing and Residential Life. “And really should only be leaving their individual [or] private rooms to go to the restroom, hit up the water fill stations and grab the food that is delivered to the lobby lounge each day.”
Following the outbreak over the weekend, CSULB officials arranged to have the Long Beach Health Department conduct mobile COVID-19 testing on Monday, where a total 150 students were tested on campus, according to Jennifer Rice Epstein, media relations lead of the city’s Joint Information Center.
Epstein said that the health department first learned of the positive cases “late last week through case interviews and communication from CSULB officials” and that officials did not find out about the five initial cases all at once.
The mobile testing yields results within 48 to 72 hours, according to Epstein, so none of the cases were found based on Monday’s testing session.
“Some people [who tested positive] we found through contact tracing who had close contact with the CSULB cases at a social gathering,” Epstein said.
Kimberly Fodran, chief of medical staff at Student Health Services, said in an email that those who tested positive were either asymptomatic or had mild symptoms. Some students who tested negative, she said, have decided to quarantine off campus.
“My colleagues in Student Affairs will be reviewing appropriate disciplinary action for those who placed themselves and our community at risk,” Fodran said.
Cook also said that the school will continue monitoring the infected students and is “in the process of establishing a surveillance testing program for the other residents.”
According to Epstein, several gatherings have occurred in the city with a wide range of attendees, and the health department found that students were congregating with other Long Beach residents.
“We need folks to refrain from gathering and follow the safer-at-home order,” Epstein said. “It’s super important, both on campuses and in the community, to try to do everything we can to prevent community spread, and that the sacrifices we make now will pay dividends in the future as we’re able to resume something that resembles normal life.”
Cook said that the school maintains a “conservative approach” to the fall semester as the dorms are only at 12% capacity and 2.79% of courses are being offered face-to-face.
“While the university is profoundly disappointed in the conduct of the students who violated public health guidance and will pursue disciplinary action as appropriate, our priority continues to be their health and safety and that of all members of our community,” Cook said. “Even with those measures having been in place, we will work to effectively manage this new challenge.”
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