A rural U.S. province has seen a jump in virus outbreaks as a university reopens.
Story County, in the dead center of Iowa, is mostly agricultural land, with only about 90,000 residents. But it has seen its count of coronavirus cases rise by nearly 30 percent, if at least 308 cases, just in the last two weeks.
What happened? Iowa State University, in Ames, reopened.
At least 141 of those new cases are students who were tested when they moved into dormitories or campus apartments for the fall semester. The university said it has tested 6,500 students, with its veterinary diagnostics lab to process the tests and get results back quickly, normally within 24 hours.
That is still only part of the student body, which last year numbered nearly 33,400 students. Many students who, for example, live in sorority or fraternal homes or in apartments outside campus may not be included.
Students who test positive are moved to “isolation rooms” on campus, and their recent contacts are informed. Other students living in university housing who may have been exposed receive quarantine rooms and are monitored for symptoms.
“We understand that receiving news that you need to isolate or quarantine is stressful for our students and families, especially as it affects participation in campus events and classes,” said Erin Baldwin, the interim senior vice president for student affairs. the university, in a statement on Friday, adding that the school would “provide flexibility while navigating practical courses.”
The rise in virus outbreaks comes as Ames and the rest of Story County work to recover from an unusual type of severe windstorm known as a derecho that devastated much of the Midwest last week.
“We are aware that up to 1,200 Ames customers will be left without electricity for five days after the storm,” Mayor John Haila said in a statement last Saturday. He said the city had opened cold stores and distributed ice without residents ice.
