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Merrimack College shutters dorm after 17 students test positive for COVID-19

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. — A residence hall at Merrimack College was evacuated Tuesday after 16 students living in the same dorm all tested positive for COVID-19.

The college said a single case of COVID-19 last week has now grown to 17 positive cases. All 17 students who tested positive live in Monican Hall.

“I feel like it was bound to happen, especially to a freshman dorm,” said Lindsay Tavano, a sophomore at Merrimack College. “There’s a lot of people living together.”

Merrimack College officials sent an email to students Tuesday morning ordering all 266 students who live in Monican Hall to return to their dorm rooms and prepare to leave.

“I’m not really surprised because once one person has it, it does kind of spread,” said another sophomore, Ariana Portalla.

The college said more than 250 students will be isolating off-campus per the college’s COVID-19 policy, while the remaining students isolating on-campus will do so in campus-designated quarantine spaces.

Monican Hall is now empty. College officials said it will be professionally cleaned before anyone is allowed to move back in. “We get tested weekly,” said sophomore Ashton Savage, “Some people get tested twice a week.”

All residential students who live outside of Monican Hall who were scheduled to be tested on Thursday and Friday are now being ordered to get tested by 5 p.m. Wednesday. Testing is being conducted at a center on-campus.

Students who are isolating will continue their courses remotely, the college said, and should plan to remain off-campus for 14 days or until the college contacts them with further information on additional testing and a return date. Many students who spoke to Boston 25 News said they are happy with how the school is handling the outbreak.

“I think Merrimack kind of handled it pretty well by sending everybody home for two weeks to quarantine them, so I mean, I wouldn’t really do anything different. I think they’re doing a pretty good job handling the situation as is.”

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