Stevens Institute In Hoboken Says Student Has Coronavirus

HOBOKEN, NJ — The president of the Stevens Institute of Technology, an engineering university overlooking the Hoboken waterfront, said in a letter on Sunday that one student there has tested positive for coronavirus. Days earlier, the university asked students to move out of campus March 27, but made exceptions if needed. Mayor Ravi Bhalla also had expressed his concerns.

Hoboken has at least 25 residents with confirmed cases of the virus, Bhalla said in an email on Monday evening. The state of New Jersey reported on Monday a huge jump in confirmed coronavirus cases over the weekend, citing a total of 2,844 cases and 27 deaths.

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On Sunday, Stevens President Nariman Farvardin sent out an email saying:

<blockquote>As our elected leaders ... continue to address the dynamic and demanding challenges presented by COVID-19, I would like to report on the current circumstances at Stevens Institute of Technology and the measures we are taking to reduce and slow the spread of the virus within our campus community and within the City of Hoboken.

Updates:

• As of today, Sunday, March 22, there has been one confirmed case of COVID-19 among the Stevens community, which was reported on Friday, March 20th. The individual is a resident of Bergen County, which is the reporting health agency. This case has also been reported to the Hoboken Department of Health. The individual was last on campus on March 12th and notifications are in progress, consistent with privacy laws.
• As of Monday, March 23, access to the Stevens campus and buildings will be restricted only to those with a valid Stevens ID or those who have received prior authorization to perform an essential service from Stevens Campus Police until further notice and in accordance with Governor Murphy’s Executive Order 107. We apologize for the inconvenience, but must undertake this additional precaution to promote social distancing and limit gatherings per State and local guidance. We look forward to returning to normal operations and re-opening our campus as soon as it is safe to do so.

Previous and Ongoing Measures to Reduce and Slow the Spread of COVID-19:

The Stevens Emergency Management Team (EMT) issued its first health advisory in late January advising students, faculty, and staff about the coronavirus (COVID-19) and launched a COVID-19 website in early March to serve as a repository for all guidance to the Stevens community. This public-facing website provides transparency for all Stevens and external stakeholders into the current status at Stevens and the actions we have implemented for our community.

In addition, Stevens has taken the following measures to reduce density on our campus and in Hoboken, to promote social distancing, and ultimately, to reduce the demand on the Hoboken health care system should there be a surge of COVID-19 cases:

• Moved all classes online for the remainder of the Spring 2020 semester and closed the library, athletic spaces, and dining halls
• Implemented telework arrangements for faculty and staff
• Asked students in the Stevens housing program, where possible, to move out of campus residence halls, Greek housing owned by Stevens, and apartments leased by Stevens in buildings in Hoboken, while considering exceptions and/or extensions and making provisions for those who are unable to move out. This measure is consistent with the actions of universities across the nation and the globe—and particularly those in densely populated urban centers—and is intended to reduce the density of our student population in Hoboken, decrease undesirable living arrangements such as shared bathrooms, and reduce the potential burden on our City’s health care system. In his March 21st press conference, Governor Murphy expressly stated that moving is a permitted activity. Stevens has allowed a 10-day period for moving out and implemented an appointment schedule to limit the number of people in any particular building or area at one time.
• Implemented enhanced sanitizing/disinfection protocols, including use of a hospital-grade disinfectant for disinfecting “high-touch” areas of the campus. All door knobs, elevator call buttons and panels, and other high touch surfaces are also being cleaned nightly.

We are closely following guidance and developments in Hoboken, and we are regularly participating in the Hoboken COVID-19 Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) meetings. Relevant information from the City of Hoboken and the State of New Jersey is routinely included in regular updates to the Stevens community, and we have strongly and repeatedly urged members of our community to register for Hoboken Nixle alerts.

Final Thoughts:

The Stevens community is working hard to address the evolving challenges of this crisis with the primary goal of protecting the health and safety of our own and the Hoboken communities while delivering on our commitment to provide a world-class education for our students. I am heartened by the resiliency, generosity of spirit, collegiality, and dedication of our elected leaders, first responders, health officials, and so many others during this period of disruption and uncertainty.
As an example, I am happy to share one voluntary, grassroots response of our faculty to the new restrictions and transition to remote schooling for Hoboken’s pre-K-12 students. Through a series of interactive webinars, Ask a Stevens Prof aims to engage pre-college students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) learning and share our faculty’s pioneering research.
In closing, I offer all members of the Hoboken and Stevens community my most sincere appreciation and best wishes in this era of unprecedented challenges. Both Stevens and the City of Hoboken are well-known for resiliency, and we will practice the lessons we have learned in the past in the coming weeks and months. The Stevens motto, Per Aspera Ad Astra (through adversity to the stars), seems particularly fitting in this circumstance.
We will get through this together.

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A new testing center opened in uptown Hoboken over the past weekend. However, there has been more demand for tests than supply, and a major center at the PNC Arts Center that opened on Monday morning had to close by 10 a.m. It was set to reopen Tuesday.

For questions about the coronavirus test, the state has set up hotlines here, and you can also call 211 with questions. You can also start by calling your doctor.

If you need immediate help, call 911.

Experts say that the novel coronavirus, because it's new, is more lethal and much harder to treat than the flu. More than 15,000 people have died worldwide.

Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that include the common cold as well as much more serious diseases. The strain that emerged in China in late 2019, now called COVID-19, is related to others that have caused serious outbreaks in recent years, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the U.S. was on Jan. 21.

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