The number of COVID cases at Virginia college campuses has surpassed 5,000

By Eric Kolenich Richmond Times-Dispatch 13 min ago

Colleges across Virginia opened their campuses this fall knowing they would see cases of the coronavirus. Now, a month or more into the semester, the total number of cases on college campuses in the state has reached 5,300.

Three schools — James Madison University, Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia — account for more than 3,000 of those cases. JMU, which plans to reopen its campus Monday following a monthlong shutdown, has passed 1,500, though only 60 are active. On Wednesday, Virginia Tech reported its 1,000th case since the pandemic began, and the total at the UVA is nearing 800.

It took a little more than a month for the number of cases to balloon from 500 to 5,000. According to The New York Times, there have been more than 130,000 cases on college campuses nationwide.

But numbers tell only part of the story. While JMU was forced to close its campus as it approached 1,000 cases, Virginia Tech has reached 1,000, and closing its campus doesn’t appear imminent. Mark Owczarski, a spokesperson for the school, said Virginia Tech intends to complete the fall semester as it is currently operating but that it must remain vigilant.

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