A woman wears a mask as she walks on campus at San Diego State University, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020, in San Diego. San Diego State University on Wednesday halted in-person classes for a month after dozens of students were infected with the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Officials announced on Sunday night that there were now a total of 286 probable and confirmed cases of coronavirus among the student population at San Diego State.
That figure, which was reported by the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA), represents an increase of 102 cases since students arrived for fall semester on Aug. 24. The cases involve both students living on- and off-campus.
On Saturday, in an effort to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus amid a surge of cases in the student population, San Diego State University issued a stay-at-home order for students living on campus.
On Friday, the university reported an additional 120 COVID-19 confirmed and probable cases were linked to the student population on and off-campus.
SDSU stay-at-home order is in effect from 10 p.m. Saturday through 6 a.m. Tuesday. It urges on-campus students to stay in their current residences through the Labor Day Weekend, except for essential needs like for medical care, getting meals and to get to work.
The university also issued an advisory for students who live off-campus in the College Area, asking them to abide by county and university advisories to stay at home.
SDSU said "violations of this order may result in disciplinary consequences." It did not detail what those consequences are.
None of the cases under investigation are related to on-campus educational activities such as classes or labs. No SDSU faculty, staff, visitors or vendors have been reported as having tested positive since the start of the fall semester.
“Testing alone and testing once isn’t enough," SDSU president Adela de la Torre said on Friday. "We need to have an environment that allows students to understand we want them to be proactive in testing, we want to work with the county, and we want to have the opportunity to use educational messages that our students need to listen to, to change their behavior. And if we aren’t able to do this, the plague of parties we see around campus will not stop."
