Wastewater from Four USU residence halls show elevated SARS-COV-2

LOGAN, Utah (KIDK/KIFI) - Utah State University is ordering 287 students to quarantine a day before school officially starts.

An alert was sent out Sunday notifying campus.

Samples taken from four residence halls on the Logan campus showed elevated levels of COVID-19 in the wastewater.

Administrators said the wastewater samples were collected from Rich, Jones, Morgan, and Davis Halls. No other testing samples collected on the university's campus came back positive.

The university is working the Utah Department of Health and the Bear River Health Department to organize testing of all 287 students who live in these residence halls. Testing was expected to happen Sunday, August 30 and Monday August 31.

Students were asked to quarantine in their rooms until they get their test results back. Administrators warned students that results may take three to four days. In the meantime, the university's activated its COVID CARE Team to arrange for resources to affected students, including dinner deliveries.

Classes for USU began Monday, August 31 with a mix of in-person, hybrid, and remote learning. Administrators said professors would be working to accommodate affected students.