LEXINGTON, Va. (AP) — The Virginia Military Institute has experienced a spike coronavirus in cases that has led more than 20% of its cadets to be in isolation or quarantine.
The Roanoke Times reports that the school reported having 131 cases on Tuesday, with 128 of those cases involving cadets.
That amounts to about 7.5% of the cadet population. An additional 235 cadets were quarantined because they had close contact with someone who tested positive.
“There are a lot of things on the table, but we’re hopeful that the measures that we took last week will start to have an impact and we’ll see a downward trend,” VMI spokesman Bill Wyatt said.
Interim Superintedent Cedric Wins implemented measures last week to slow the virus's spread. Those measures included closing campus to visitors and suspending visitation between cadets in the barracks. There is also a 14-day quarantine for cadets who have close contact with someone who tested positive.
VMI leaders have not discussed sending cadets home.
“I think the folks at the department of health would advise us against that, sending them back into the community,” said Wyatt, the spokesman.