A guest attendee at a Rowan University workshop tested positive for COVID-19, the university acknowledged in an email Wednesday.
The attendee, a Pennsylvania resident, attended the workshop on Saturday, March 7 but didn’t begin experiencing symptoms until March 9. The attendee only spent a limited amount of time on campus outside of the workshop and the risk to the campus community remains low, according to the Gloucester County Health Department. The attendee is currently in self-isolation in their home. No Rowan University students were in attendance at the workshop for outside professionals.
“It was a two-and-a-half hour workshop with all outside attendees,” Vice President for University Relations Joe Cardona said. “The person went to Wilson [Hall] and left from Wilson [Hall]. No Rowan University students were in attendance.”
The university is in the process of informing workshop attendees who may have come in contact with the individual. They strongly recommend anyone exposed to follow up with the Gloucester County Health Department and to follow the Centers for Disease Control’s recommended 14-day self-quarantine since the last interaction with the attendee, ending on Saturday, March 21.
Wilson Hall and the room have been cleaned numerous times as part of their regular cleaning schedule since March 7.
The Gloucester County Health Department is not recommending Rowan University take any further precautionary measures at this time.
“We wish for a strong and rapid recovery for the person today confirmed to have COVID-19,” the email read. “We know this is likely to be just the first of many cases near and within the Rowan communities in Glassboro, Camden and Stratford.”
As of March 18, two Glassboro residents had tested positive for COVID-19 – a 59-year old male hospitalized at Inspira Medical Center in Mullica Hill and a 57-year old asymptomatic female self isolating in her home, according to a press release from the Glassboro Office of Emergency Management.
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