A party with about 400 people was shut down during the opening week of East Carolina, according to university police.
The large gathering was one of at least 20 parties shut down due to breach of state coronavirus orders banning large gatherings, University of Lt. Col. Lt. Chris Sutton to McClatchy News.
Sutton said most of the parties took place Aug. 6 through 9. Students began arriving at residences on Aug. 5, before classes began on Monday, according to a university release.
“It’s a tough time for everyone,” Sutton McClatchy said. “We really had to change policing methods in recent weeks due to various events in our country and now we have to wrestle with a pandemic since our students have returned to campus.”
In addition to the parties that were shut down, 80 liquor violations in residential homes were reported to police by campus management authorities, the newspaper reported. The head of the university police said that these were probably minor alcohol-related injuries and did not involve law enforcement.
He said the number of batches and damages of alcohol was “reasonable” and “manageable” compared to past opening weeks at the university.
“One (meeting of about 400 people) over a period of four days and the rest are between 25 and 50 – then at the moment for our fight against COVID and keeping the numbers. I call that a win,” he said. told McClatchy.
The school has reported 28 confirmed cases of coronavirus among students and two among staff. The cases do not include individuals who may have confirmed cases but have not been reported to campus in the past 14 days or individuals who are self-quarantining without a confirmed diagnosis.
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