SCRANTON, Pa. — Before students and faculty returned to campus, the University of Scranton put in safety protocols. Certain buildings are closed and anyone coming on campus must wear a mask, practice social distancing, and check in daily on the university's wellness app. But those measures didn't keep the virus away completely.
Last week, the university reported 39 students and one faculty member tested positive and are in isolation, along with several other students and faculty based on contact tracing.
University officials say it was something they expected could happen and were prepared for it.
"We realized there's a good chance that we would find some people who were asymptomatic. This is an added precaution. So, you know, we don't want to say we wanted to find cases. It would be great if we had zero, but we anticipated finding some positives," said Stan Zygmunt, University of Scranton news and media relations director.
"I was prepared for a number that was in the hundreds. And when I saw that it was only in the thirties, I was thankful for that," said sophomore David Pennino.
On the university's website, the "Scranton Safe Together Plan" lays out how it will handle positive cases, contact tracing, and testing for COVID-19.
"There is a way of possibly catching people who are asymptomatic, they may not have any symptoms, but the test will come back positive and we can isolate, or quarantine based on contacts, if they test positive," said Zygmunt.
People might be wondering why they're seeing a spike in cases where counties have universities or colleges in them. That's because the state is counting those students as residents in that county.
"I feel like it makes sense because I'm living here, and that this is pretty much where I live, more than New Jersey, so I think it does make sense to count me here," said sophomore Skyler Pozo.
Skyler says she's noticed how closely others are following the protocols put in place and it's giving her peace of mind being back at school.
"I had known Pennsylvania opened up a lot earlier than New Jersey. But again, I feel like everyone's been so safe around here that I'm not that worried anymore," continued Pozo.
By the end of this month, The University of Scranton hopes to have the school's population tested and will update its website each Monday with case totals. We do know that 24 new cases were added today in Lackawanna County, but university officials won't know if any of those cases were from students or faculty until they get updated stats.