'Exponential Growth:' Michigan State Students Quarantined

342 cases since Aug. 24 as students party down like it's 2019
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 13, 2020 5:44 AM CDT
'Exponential Growth:' Michigan State Students Quarantined
A sign outside the Michigan State University Student Union building alerts students to MSU's face covering rule on Friday, Aug. 21, 2020. Students at Michigan universities are receiving emails welcoming them back for the fall, but a cloud of concern is hovering because of the pandemic.   (AP Photo/Anna Nichols)

The kids at Michigan State University were apparently having a little too much socially undistanced fun after classes started back up, and Ingham County health officials are now asking them to self quarantine for the next two weeks after the "exponential growth" of COVID-19. The school saw at least 342 new cases since Aug. 24, reports ABC News, in comparison to only 24 cases in the three weeks prior and at least a third of those were people who copped to having attended a party recently and a third of those belonged to a Greek organization. "This is an urgent situation," said an Ingham County Health Department rep on Saturday. "If we do not slow the spread immediately, we will be dealing with the consequences across the county for months to come."

The move still falls under a recommendation, not an emergency order at this time; students are advised to leave home only for in-person class, labs, athletics, work, food, medicine or medical care, and other necessary supplies not available via delivery. The health department warns that failure to comply will result in "more stringent and mandatory restrictions. CNN notes that while most MSU classes are available online, many students had binding off-campus leases or simply desired to return to campus. (More coronavirus stories.)

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