A private university in central Illinois is requiring its entire student body to quarantine for two weeks and is temporarily reverting to remote learning due to clusters of COVID-19 cases on campus.
Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, has confirmed just under 50 positive cases on campus so far, according to the school's president, Stephen Standifird, who expressed concern over seeing "both large and small gathering where masks and physical distancing are not observed."
"Although it may seem extreme, this move to temporary remote learning and a two-week, all-student quarantine allows us to focus on the continuity of the educational experience for all of our students while giving us time to gather data on the full extent of the spread of the virus and assess the best way to proceed as a community," Standifird said in a message to students Tuesday.
From Tuesday, the school is requiring students to limit nonessential interactions, stay in their residence halls or off-campus housing and take classes remotely.
"This two-week quarantine creates an opportunity for us to reset our behaviors so we can have a successful semester," Standifird added. "I still think it’s possible for us to do so. We would not engage in the two-week quarantine if I did not believe it was possible for us to complete the semester on campus successfully, but this only happens if we collectively change our behaviors moving forward."
Bradley University currently enrolls nearly 6,000 students in undergraduate and graduate programs, according to its website.