The university, which has two campuses in Providence, reported the spike in cases Wednesday evening. The 31 students all live off-campus according to Johnson and Wales officials. The school has not said whether the spike in cases was the result of a single incident, or flouting COVID-19 policies. No students have shown more than mild symptoms, school officials said in a statement.
After contact tracing, the university has placed another 100 students into quarantine for the next 14 days. Those students can quarantine on campus, or return home.
“The actions we are taking follow the procedures established in our COVID-19 response plan.,” said Johnson and Wales Providence President Marie Bernardo-Sousa. “Through isolation and quarantine, we are able to mitigate the spread of the virus while allowing those students’ academic journeys to remain on track.”
The announcement comes as the number of cases ticked up this week, with the state health department reporting 173 new cases Wednesday. Last month, as colleges began their fall semesters, cases among people aged 19-24 spiked.
“We’ve worked closely with our college leaders to get this under control,” Governor Gina Raimondo wrote in her regular email briefing Wednesday, referring to the data. “It’s still the cohort in which we are seeing the most new cases.”
After Providence College first reported its spike of cases in September, four Johnson and Wales students living in the neighborhood populated by college students also tested positive for the illness.
Johnson and Wales was among the first colleges in Rhode Island to return to in-person classes, opening up culinary labs this summer. Since the fall, the majority of classes at the University have been offered online. On Monday of this week, the Rhode Island Department of Health reported just 10 cases at Johnson and Wales.
