This story is currently ongoing. It will be updated as The Campus learns new information or as the Covid-19 situation on campus changes.
Ten students recently tested positive for Covid-19, according to an update to the college’s case reporting dashboard at around 2 p.m. The new positives bring the total number of active cases to 13 — one employee and 12 students.
“While this is the largest number of cases we have reported at any one time during the pandemic, we are prepared — and have protocols in place — for higher incidence of COVID-19,” an evening all-school email from administrators said about the new cases.
The college’s dashboard previously showed 13 simultaneous active cases, 10 students and three employees, in late November.
Dean of Students Derek Doucet sent an email Wednesday morning reminding students of opportunities for asymptomatic testing taking place throughout that day. The college has been offering weekly asymptomatic testing on Mondays, and added Wednesday testing for this week only.
“Remember, the testing in Virtue is for ASYMPTOMATIC students only. If you are experiencing any COVID-like symptoms, no matter how mild, avoid any unnecessary interactions with others, wear a well-fitting face covering at all times, and immediately contact Health Services at 802-443-3290 or healthservices@middelbury.edu to arrange for testing,” Doucet wrote in his email.
Unlike last year, the college is not running mandatory screening testing for all students. Currently, in-season, traveling athletes and unvaccinated students are required to get tested. Students with Covid-19 symptoms are supposed to schedule testing through the Parton Center for Health and Wellness.
Vermont has the sixth highest cases per capita out of all U.S. states and territories in The New York Times dashboard on Wednesday. As of 1 p.m. the same day, 17 new daily cases had been reported in Addison County and a total of 290 cases had been reported in the county over the past two weeks, according to the state Covid-19 dashboard.
Abigail Chang ’23 (she/her) is the Editor in Chief.
She previously served as a managing editor, Senior News Editor, News Editor and co-host of The Campus' weekly news radio show.
Chang is majoring in English and minoring in linguistics. She is a member of the Media Portrayals of Minorities Project, a Middlebury lab that uses computer-assisted and human coding techniques to analyze bulk newspaper data.
Throughout last year, Chang worked on source diversity and content audits for different media properties as an intern for Impact Architects LLC. Chang spent summer 2021 in Vermont, working as a general assignment reporter for statewide digital newspaper VTDigger. Chang is also a member of the Middlebury Paradiddles, an a cappella group.
