NJ College Parties Cause 2 COVID Outbreaks In 1 Week: Officials

MAHWAH, NJ — Two parties hosted by Ramapo College students have produced two COVID-19 outbreaks in the same week, college officials announced.

In total, 14 students have been confirmed positive for COVID-19, but the college has asked for everyone present at the two gatherings to get tested, hinting that the numbers could grow even higher.

Eleven students have been confirmed positive after attending a party at a Pine Hall residence on Dec. 10, with college officials being notified of the first positive test on Dec. 13. Six of those 11 students are isolating off campus, while five are isolating on campus, officials said.

The second party happened just a day later, and campus health officials were notified of the first positive case on Tuesday. All three of the people who've tested positive for COVID-19 stemming from their attendance at the party are isolating off campus, officials said.

These outbreaks have resulted in new mitigation strategies and measures that the campus enacted this week, including:

• Suspension of the social gathering and guest and visitation policies in all residence areas
• Cancellation of all large College-sponsored events with food between now and the end of this month
• Encouragement of residential students that are not displaying any COVID-19 symptoms to participate in Surveillance Testing in order to know their health status before traveling home
• Encouragement of all residential students to depart campus after their last final

Of course, this all comes as the statewide COVID-19 activity level has risen to "high" for the first time since the spring, and the "high" mark is also the case for all 21 New Jersey counties.

The omicron variant is also having a deeper impact in New Jersey than in most parts of the country, at least currently. To be clear, the college did not specify on the specific variant of COVID-19 those in isolation contracted.

New York and New Jersey are the two states in the nation with the highest spread of the omicron coronavirus variant, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as officials now estimate the highly contagious variant represents 13 percent of COVID-19 cases in New York and New Jersey.

The delta variant remains much more prevalent across the county, but cases involving the omicron variant have been trending upward nationwide in recent weeks, officials said. In fact, while the omicron variant only makes up about 3 percent of cases in the rest of the United States, Dr. Anthony Fauci has stated that the statistic may change soon.

"It is going to be dominant in the United States, given its doubling time," he said.
Travelers this holiday season will have a lot to consider when heading to the airport, or spending a night on the town, and the sniffles or a stomach ache are just one part of it.

Read more: Omicron Makes Up 13% Of NJ And NY COVID-19 Cases: CDC

With reporting from Jeff Arnold, Josh Bakan and Nicole Rosenthal.