A virus that put Hampden-Sydney College (HSC) out of commission last week has made its way to Longwood University.
Since this past Sunday, Feb. 1, there have been roughly three-dozen confirmed cases of the norovirus at Longwood University. In an online-alert the University said, “With a student body of nearly 5,000, we naturally expect illnesses at this time of year and remain vigilant in our prevention and cleanup efforts.”
The norovirus, which is caused by gastroenteritis, swept through HSC leaving approximately 300 students, or 30 percent of the campus ill. According to school officials, there were 150 confirmed cases of norovirus, and about the same amount of unconfirmed cases.
The college shut down last Thursday afternoon, and officials decided not to reopen until 8:30 a.m. Wednesday morning. All but 200 students chose not to evacuate campus. HSC officials say they believe this is the longest the school has been closed since its opening, dating back to 1775.
Typical symptoms last 24-48 hours and include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and stomach cramps.
The University’s Director of Communications and Media Relations, Matt McWilliams clarified that for a confirmed case of norovirus to be tallied, the person infected must have been officially tested via a stool test or diagnosed because of symptoms.
When asked whether he thought the virus would make its way to Longwood with force, Vice President of Student Affairs, Dr. Tim Pierson said, “How much it will spread, I don’t know. But most people can’t imagine it not making its way here. How does it have that much of a hold on Hampden-Sydney, with the number of our students that interact with Hampden-Sydney students, and it not be brought here?”
“We need to be prepared, that’s the headline I have for Longwood,” he said.
According to Pierson, the main factor in containing the virus on campus is making sure students and faculty who feel ill make the right decisions. “The biggest thing that needs to take place is people all making reasonable, rational judgments,” he said. “If you’re sick, stay home. Same thing with students at HSC who are sick and have friends who want to nurse them over here, that’s not a good decision either.”
He added, “I had someone on the police staff say they weren’t feeling well and that they were staying home, and I said, ‘that’s exactly what we want you to do.’”
Many students around Longwood’s campus are wondering if the institution will eventually close like HSC if there is severe illness, but according to Pierson the criteria for shutting down is not yet determined. “For the cases that we have, this could drag on for a month in terms of trickling cases,” he said. “If we didn’t feel like we could garner enough resources to keep the university safe, or we had enough faculty and staff that were also sick, that’s when we look into shutting down.”
McWilliams said that since the breakout at HSC, Longwood has stepped up efforts across campus to attempt to isolate the virus. A Longwood norovirus alert stated that the university has provided Clorox bleach wipes at the front desks of residence halls since Jan. 30.
HSC officials told The Rotunda that the school installed multiple hand washing stations in their dining hall. Though Longwood hasn’t installed any, they did make a few big adjustments. Pierson said the university had to change the type of soap used across campus because of the norovirus. “For this virus it has to be an alcohol based soap and apparently the soap we had was not,” he said.
When it comes to putting a stop the norovirus, Pierson said it starts with Longwood students. “Everyone has to play a part in this,” he said. “We need to wash our hands for 20 seconds with soap and hot water.”
If you know someone who is sick or you think could have the norovirus, contact your residential assistant or call the Longwood University health center.
