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UMass Amherst Working To Prevent Large Student Gatherings As COVID-19 Rates Decline

The W.E.B. Du Bois Library at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in Amherst, Massachusetts.
Kevin Gutting
/
Daily Hamphire Gazette / gazettenet.com
The W.E.B. Du Bois Library at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in Amherst, Massachusetts.

A UMass Amherst official said, as the weather gets warmer, the university is working to ensure students avoid large gatherings and limit the spread of COVID-19.

Last weekend, Amherst police were called to break up a party of 200 or so students at an off-campus apartment complex.

Some UMass students who were there face the loss of campus housing and suspension.

Spokesman Ed Blaguszewski said the university's Office of Off-Campus Student Life is piloting a new rapid response team this weekend to make sure things stay under control.

"We'll be working with the Amherst police and as people are seen outdoors, we'll reach out to them to remind them of concerns if there are any potential gatherings growing in size," he said. "Students who live together, within their social groups or bubbles, can quite properly gather on their porches or in their yards to socialize, and if it’s within their bubbles, appropriately without masks. This is quite different from larger gatherings that involve people outside one’s household, and that is what we are working very hard to discourage and deter."

Blaguszewski said most students have been following the rules and the COVID-19 positivity rate at the university is the lowest it’s been since early February.

He said UMass has not yet decided whether to hold graduation ceremonies this year.

Before joining New England Public Media, Alden was a producer for the CBS NEWS program 60 Minutes. In that role, he covered topics ranging from art, music and medicine to business, education and politics.
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