Providence College Allows Some In-Person Classes To Resume

Approximately one month after an outbreak of the coronavirus at Providence College spurred a campus-wide lockdown and moved to all-online learning, students are starting to return to classrooms. The first few in-person classes were held Thursday, ahead of a wider reopening next week.

On-campus students were the first to be allowed back into classes Thursday, with off-campus students scheduled to return Monday.

"It has been a long road — and we still have a long way to go — but it is an important first step," Steven Sears, the dean of students, said in a statement. "We are on our way back."

Students are reminded to stay in their pods, which should consist of roommates and housemates only, and shouldn't be more than five people. Social gatherings are still prohibited, and a stay-at-home order remains in place.

The Rhode Island Department of Health confirmed the outbreak of more than 120 cases Sept. 18. Most of the cases were in off-campus students, spread mainly by small, unmasked, non-socially distant gatherings, Gov. Gina Raimondo said.

"To the students at PC, I'm asking you to obey the stay-at-home order," the governor said at the time. "I get that it's fall and you want to get together and have fun, but behavior like that this year endangers other people's lives, and it's incredibly selfish."

Under the stay-at-home order, all students, both on- and off-campus, are asked to stay within their pod and only go out for essential reasons, including grocery shopping, going to class, medical appointments and more. More information is available on the university's website.

Read more:

• 120-Case Coronavirus Outbreak Confirmed At Providence College
• 'It's Still An Active Outbreak' | Coronavirus Clusters At PC, URI
  
• Brown University, Providence College Begin Reopening Process