SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – Syracuse University is infamously known for its party school reputation. Sunday night, hundreds of students promoted that reputation, throwing a bash after the SU men’s basketball team upset West Virginia in March Madness.
Almost all students at the party did not wear masks, and were huddled together well within six feet of each other. This gathering clearly went against the university’s public health guidelines.
In the three days since, the stadium testing center reported 45 new student COVID-19 cases. Vice Chancellor Mike Haynie leads the school’s pandemic response. According to Haynie, a massive cluster wherein merely one person is positive, is “a contact tracer’s nightmare.”
It is unclear whether anyone was positive from the party. However, Haynie says the university’s quarantine system can only handle so much.
Currently, the Sheraton Hotel is at quarantine capacity of just under 300. Alternatively, SU has apartments open on South Campus to isolate students, and is looking to utilize the nearby Collegian Hotel. Even with these backup facilities, there is still such thing as a potential breaking point.
“If we get to a point where there is no more quarantine housing, there is no more isolation housing, where the health center is overwhelmed,” Haynie said. “That’s when the health team is going to decide that we have to do something dramatic.”
For the last two semesters, Syracuse University has been forced to send students home due to the ongoing pandemic. If the virus runs rampant due to large gatherings, it very well could be deja vu.
Students sang "Take Me Home, Country Roads" at one point during the mass gathering outside Castle Court. The Syracuse Men's Basketball Team defeated West Virginia 75-72 tonight in the NCAA Tournament. @CitrusTVNewspic.twitter.com/vuCC7fQ7ss
GAMBARO: Over 600 miles away, Syracuse is on a March Madness Tear in Hinkle Fieldhouse. And all the way back home on campus, the Orange’s success has not gone uncelebrated. Though it may not seem like it on this quiet Wednesday afternoon, this apartment lot known as Castle Court was flooded with students Sunday night. Hundreds of students. Packed together, no masks, all singing Country Roads after an upset win over (“WEST VIRGINIA”). Meanwhile, SU’s testing center is reporting 45 new COVID cases on campus in just the past three days. Vice Chancellor Mike Haynie is in charge of the university’s COVID and public health response. He says that a massive party like this is simply…
HAYNIE: A contact tracer’s nightmare.
GAMBARO: To make matters more difficult, the Sheraton Hotel reached its quarantine capacity today. Meaning additional exposed students will have to isolate in either the Skyhalls on South Campus, or the off-campus Collegian Hotel. Even so, Haynie says the system can only handle so much.
HAYNIE: If we get to a point where there is no more quarantine housing, there is no more isolation housing, where the health center is overwhelmed, where there is not the capability to provide care to COVID positive students at the level that we feel comfortable in and that is safe. That’s when the health team is going to decide: we have to do something dramatic.
GAMBAR: Knowing the pandemic brought an end to in-person classes in the fall, students don’t want the same thing to happen this semester.
Devon-Te WASHINGTON: COVID has already impacted us in such a tremendous way, you know, there’s not a lot of people on campus, and before COVID, campus was so lively.
Mike BATTIN: I’ve gotten really used to being back to school, and when I’m on the Zoom call, I can’t really pay attention.
GAMBARO: At the end of the day, as the harsh saying goes, a virus does not care. Carson Gambaro, NCC News.
