BCC Student Tests Positive for COVID-19; 42 Told to Self-quarantine

Forty-two students and staff at Berkshire Community College were told to self-quarantine after a student tested positive for COVID-19.

The student is enrolled in one of the college’s Allied Health programs, according to Christina Wynn, interim dean of business and outreach. She said that upon learning of the student’s positive test result Wednesday, the college closed the classroom that the student had been reporting to for 24 hours and sanitized it.

BCC has contacted all students, faculty and staff who had been in contact with the student and instructed them to self-quarantine for 14 days, Wynn said. Students in the impacted classroom were shifted to remote instruction and will continue distance learning for the next week.

According to BCC’s policy, the city’s Health Department and/or the community nurse assists with contact tracing. The college did not notify the entire student body of the positive test result, she said.

About 70 percent of students are learning entirely online this semester, Wynn said, and BCC has “limited access points” to buildings.

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