Sacred Heart Dorm Quarantined After Mislabeled Coronavirus Test

FAIRFIELD, CT — A residence hall at Sacred Heart University is under quarantine after a student’s positive coronavirus test was mislabeled, and several residents of the dorm were diagnosed with the virus.

The asymptomatic student took a virus test last week that was incorrectly labeled by a lab involved in the testing process, school officials said Tuesday in a community update. Although contact tracing indicated the student’s roommate was the person's only close contact, as the week went on, several more residents of the student’s dorm, Merton Hall, tested positive. By Wednesday, the entire building was quarantined.

Food is delivered to students in the freshman dorm, and the bathroom cleaning schedule has been increased, according to the university.

“We know this is not an easy way to kick off your freshman year,” officials from the school said in an update Thursday.

As of Wednesday, all Merton Hall residents to test positive for the virus were asymptomatic. The dorm’s entire population will be tested, according to the university. The test results, which will determine the length of the quarantine, are expected to be available over the weekend.

Sacred Heart is changing how it administers tests and is expanding weekly testing in the wake of the mislabeled result.

The Merton Hall cases follow a spike in the coronavirus among students living off campus in Bridgeport earlier in the school year, at which time students residing in Bridgeport were temporarily banned from campus. In early September, several on-campus students were suspended for disobeying the visitors’ policy for residence halls.

As of Friday, the university reported 69 active coronavirus cases, nine of which involved on-campus students, and 26 recoveries. Students are being asked to limit off-campus social gatherings.

Both Sacred Heart and Fairfield universities have set their current coronavirus alert levels to yellow, the second least severe option out of four levels at Sacred Heart and out of five levels at Fairfield University.

Fairfield University saw an increase in positive tests in the last week, with 35 cases identified between Sept. 10 and Wednesday.

“The majority of these cases are from known sources and appear to be clustered around a specific activity,” the university said in a message Friday.

Since Sept. 1, Fairfield University has had 42 positive tests.

In an effort to contain the virus, Fairfield University introduced Friday several changes to campus operations. On-campus students can only have a guest in their room if the person lives in the same university housing community as the host. Dining rooms will be grab-and-go only, and mask wearing will be rigorously enforced. The changes will remain in place for a week.