BLOOMSBURG, Pa. — It's quiet on Bloomsburg University's campus with no students walking to and from classes. Late last month, the university announced it was going to mostly virtual classes and recently announced it was staying that way through the end of the semester.
"It does give me a lot of opportunity to go home if I want. It's a lot of leniency, so I really don't mind it that much," Anna Derafelo said.
"You can go anywhere you want, you're not just going to sit in a classroom. You can go to the library, come outside, you get out in a better environment to do your work," Ashley Smith said.
Columbia County is seeing a downward trend in COVID-19 cases right now, and officials at Bloomsburg University believe virtual classes and other precautions are some of the reasons why.
"They've heeded these calls over the last month or so after we had the initial spike. That's good to know that they've finally realized and taken our warnings seriously," Tom McGuire said.
Bloomsburg University has reported 333 positive COVID-19 cases since mid-August. According to the university's website, 300 of those cases have finished their isolation periods.
Spokesperson Tom McGuire says since the university went virtual, more than 900 on-campus students left. McGuire says within the past week or so, more than a dozen students have even come back to campus.
"Didn't really want to be home, they wanted the freedom they can have here on a college campus," McGuire said.
On-campus students we spoke with say they are happy they stayed.
"It's just better to get out here and have the experience even if it is in this type of situation," Smith said.
"So many people left, but I stayed just to get the experience we're getting now," Kirsten Sipling said.
A spokesperson says Bloomsburg University is happy with the decrease in cases and believes students finally realize what's going on and have taken the warnings seriously.