A student living in Carleton’s Leeds residence building has tested positive for COVID-19, the first positive test announced by the university since Sept. 22.
Six on-campus students have now tested positive for the virus, according to a running tally of Carleton’s Cases on Campus tracker.
An email from Housing and Residence Life Services sent Oct. 10 informed students of the news and said that Ottawa Public Health is completing contact tracing.
“As a high-level precaution, we are disinfecting all potentially affected areas of Leeds House,” the email read.
The university confirmed its first case of COVID-19 in residence on Sept. 12, and the total increased to five active cases on Sept. 22. Since then, active cases have decreased as students recovered.
The tracker currently sits at one active on-campus case, but has not been updated since Oct. 9, before the email from Housing and Residence Life Services was sent out.
Residence is at 30 per cent capacity to combat the spread of the virus. Residence students are restricted from moving between floors and are only allowed one socially-distanced guest in their room at a time. Parties are also prohibited.
TV and study lounges are still open, but with limited capacity.
“I urge anyone reading to get tested should they suspect they are experiencing any symptoms of the virus,” the first residence student to test positive wrote in an anonymous Charlatan letter. “It is worth the trouble.”
“I’ve had nothing but positive experiences with the other residents of my floor,” the student wrote. “This remained constant, even following the announcement of my positive result.”
Housing and Residence Life Services is encouraging students in residence to self-assess daily and to contact the residence manager if they experience symptoms or feel unwell.
