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Arizona State University to move students in dorms amid increase in COVID-19 cases

asu
Posted at 12:25 PM, Sep 01, 2020
and last updated 2020-09-02 20:22:19-04

TEMPE, AZ — Some college students living at Arizona State University will be moved due to an increase in COVID-19 cases, the school said Tuesday.

A spokesperson with ASU told ABC15 that due to increasing numbers, they will be making changes to on-campus housing.

"With the shift that we announced last night, we’ll be dispersing students out across all of our residence halls, moving some students to different rooms and different residence halls to reduce the density in the dorms," a Tuesday press release stated.

New numbers released Monday from ASU show a total of about 800 cases, including students who live off-campus.

ASU says they have not seen a large number of violations in terms of masks or gathering policies, but the spread has continued.

"Sometimes it’s just a couple of kids hanging out in a dorm room who take their masks off – it’s a very contagious disease, and it’s spreading," an ASU spokesperson said.

The university hopes moving students will not be a major interruption, however, they urge students to let the school know of any issues.

There was no immediate word on how many students would be moved or when the moves would take place.

ASU started the semester approximately two weeks ago in "Housing Mode 2." According to ASU's website, the university is now in "Housing Mode 3," with increased precautions and limitations since beginning the semester.

Here are more details on what each "Mode" means for students, according to ASU:

University Housing Mode 2
Limited Mode of Operations: ASU fills residence halls at lowered capacity to provide for flexibility in self-isolation and quarantine spaces. Guests in residence hall rooms are limited to those within the hall.

University Housing Mode 3
Increase security and enforcement; restrict ingress with no external visitors and one guest per room from within the same residence hall at any given time; de-densify higher risk living configurations with communal bathrooms and communal living situations; housing removal for repeat violations; and facilitate single occupancy and process releases from housing.

University Housing Mode 4
Essential Only: Students who have no other options will be allowed to request an exemption to live in residence.

University Housing Mode 5
Closed: No use of residential halls.