This story was updated at 11:02 a.m. Friday with comments from the Cabrini COVID-19 Task Force chair. It was further updated Friday at 11:24 a.m after the school issued an update. Another update to the story was made at 10:04 p.m. Friday after the announcement of a second positive case, and another was made on Monday at 9:37 a.m. after the tracker was updated again.
Cabrini University has reported four active cases of COVID-19 on campus. The school updated its COVID Case Tracker at 11 p.m. Thursday night, indicating that a student on campus currently has a positive case. The tracker was updated again on Friday night at 8:50 p.m. to show that a second student has tested positive, and again on Sunday night at 11:45 p.m. to show that the number of active cases is now up to four.
Loquitur first learned on Wednesday morning that members of the men’s lacrosse team were asked to self-quarantine for 48 hours, according to multiple sources. When head men’s lacrosse coach Steve Colfer was contacted for further information, he did not respond. Instead, athletic director Brad Koch replied, saying that the athletic department could not provide any information at the time.
Dr. Stephen Rupprecht, dean of students and COVID-19 Task Force chair, was also contacted on Thursday morning in an effort to learn what steps Cabrini is taking to keep the students and campus safe. He did not respond to Loquitur’s initial request for comment.
Rupprecht did respond when Loquitur reached out Friday morning after the tracker was updated. He gave further information on contact tracing, and said that any person who was found to have close contact with the individual who tested positive is now quarantining for 14 days.
“The county involved with the test is responsible for the official contact tracing. They may not inform the University of their actions,” Rupprecht wrote in an email. “The University conducted its own tracing efforts to identify those considered close contacts. All students designated in that capacity have been contacted and are cooperating.”
The university did not issue a statement or announcement to update students about the first case at the time the COVID Case Tracker was updated, even after the positive case had been reported by CBS3 in Philadelphia. The school finally sent an email to the campus community on behalf of Rupprecht on Friday morning at 11:12 a.m to inform it of the case. Both this statement and Rupprecht’s comments to Loquitur encouraged students and other members of the campus community to continuously check the tracker page to see when active cases occur.
“The tracker page has been and always will be updated the same day an active case is identified. … As previously announced, the tracking page will serve as a means to notify our community in real time when we have a positive case,” Rupprecht wrote to Loquitur.
Another update was made on Rupprecht’s behalf at 9:04 p.m. Friday to inform the campus community of the second active case. Students that were potentially exposed to either case are now quarantining, according to the update. Seven are quarantining on campus, while others are doing so at home.
No statement or announcement has been made about the two most recent positive cases outside of the tracker being updated.
Check back with The Loquitur for updates on the story.
