As pictures circulate of young people waiting in long lines for entry into Morgantown bars, West Virginia University leaders are expressing deep dismay.
“To say that I am disappointed would be an understatement,” stated university President E. Gordon Gee.
About an hour after that statement, Gov. Jim Justice announced he would once again shut down bars in Monongalia County. He said state officials had talked to bar owners in the county and tried to caution them.
“What do we do? Boom, right off the get-go. We’ve got people standing on top of people. We’ve got no masks,” the governor said.
So, Justice said, “4 o’clock today, the bars are closed.”
Gee wrote in a statement that it was expected some students would go to bars as they reopened. But what disappointed the president was the lack of following safety protocols – including not wearing masks or following physical distancing guidelines.
He called that “a flagrant disregard for our community’s safety, both the campus community and the city of Morgantown.”
Gee said he is proud of students, faculty and staff who are being careful during the coronavirus pandemic.
“But, as always, it is the actions of a few that bring negative attention to our University,” Gee stated.
“However, during this time of a global pandemic, these same actions lead to more than unwanted headlines and social media shaming. These actions will lead to serious consequences including additional community spread of COVID-19 and the closing of an on-campus learning environment.”
We’re disappointed to see students ignoring state and local protocols for distancing and gathering at bars. It’s critical that we come together as a University to keep our community safe. We’re not doing our best. We must do better.@gordongee‘s letter: https://t.co/91IEL0bhRg pic.twitter.com/sMQCybFCvi
— WVU Mountaineers (@WestVirginiaU) September 2, 2020
Meanwhile, the county superintendent is worried about how the spread of coronavirus among college students will affect the upcoming K-12 school year.
Monongalia County Superintendent Eddie Campbell said he’d seen pictures on social media, giving him increased reason to worry as the local public school system teeters on the verge of remote learning.
Immediately following a special board meeting on Tuesday night, “I was receiving text messages with pictures of the bar situation,” Campbell said.
“We have said from the outset of this pandemic that the biggest issue for us and what scared us the most about our ability to get kids back in school and playing sports and doing the things that kids should be doing was the situation at West Virginia University,” Campbell said today on MetroNews’ “Talkline.”
Monongalia County, which is where West Virginia University is located, is among several counties depicted as orange on a state map to depict community spread of the coronavirus. Others include Kanawha, Fayette, Logan and Mingo.
If the counties are shown as orange at 9 p.m. Saturday, they would not be able to start school with in-class learning and instead would have to enact remote plans at the Sept. 8 start of the school year. One county, Monroe, is on red, which signals halting in-class instruction immediately.
Monongalia’s average number of daily positive cases, adjusted for 100,000 population, is 18.2.
For WVU, the latest resting results appear to show a rising number of cases since students reported to campus.
Of 260 tests among students reported back on Tuesday, 35 were positive for a 13.46 percent positivity rate.
On Sunday, of 136 student tests reported back, 27 were positive for a 19.85 percent positivity rate.
On Friday, of 144 student tests reported back, 16 were positive for an 11.11 percent positivity rate.
There are fewer students being tested now than when mass testing occurred a few weeks ago, right when they started returning.
In yet another news release today, West Virginia University officials expressed concern about some students violating mandatory quarantine.
“The University has also been made aware of students who have broken their mandatory quarantine, which is a violation of the Student Code of Conduct,” officials stated.
“It is critical for the safety of others that those in quarantine not be around others during this time.”
Campbell wants WVU’s numbers to be removed from the data that affects whether public schools may open in the coming weeks.
But right now, what happens at the university is affecting the status of local schools.
“The situation at WVU with their numbers of students who are in quarantine, who have contracted covid-19, they’re the reason we’re not going to be able to open school on Tuesday,” Campbell said.