Update, Feb. 22: Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued a new threshold for pausing in-person instruction, as announced in an email from the Office of the President.

The new guidelines state that if colleges have “100 cases or if the number of cases equal 5 percent of their population or more, they must go to remote learning for two weeks.” This is with the condition that at least 25% of the population is tested each week.

The pause at Rose Hill will remain in effect until further notice, the university said. There have been 221 positive cases between both campuses within the last two weeks; 213 of the positive cases are at the Rose Hill campus.

Fordham University updated its COVID-19 testing data to reflect that 112 students at Rose Hill tested positive for COVID-19 for the two-week period before Saturday, Feb. 13. Between Jan. 29 and Feb. 11, the infection rate at Rose Hill was 2.73% out of 4,110 tests. 

Under New York state guidelines, universities must pause in-person instruction and face-to-face activities for two weeks if 100 students test positive. Fordham has stated that only the affected campus will close, meaning that no activities at Lincoln Center will be suspended. Lincoln Center has had 10 cases out of 1,145 tests over the same two-week period, equating to a 0.87% infection rate. 

At the beginning of the fall semester, the total number of positive cases on both campuses by Sept. 17 was 15. The infection rate between Aug. 18 and Sept. 2 was 0.28%, and it lowered to 0.02% in the next two-week period, with only one case at the university.

The first time the university’s infection rate rose above 1% was on Nov. 13. By Nov. 24, cases spiked to 1.31% campus-wide, but all students living on campus were about to be sent back home for the rest of the semester, a plan Fordham had announced over the summer.

All students, faculty and staff on campus are required to be tested once a month, and the next deadline for mandatory testing is Feb. 26. As of 3 p.m. on Feb. 13, the university has not released any statement on the matter or announced the cancellation of in-person classes. 

Update, Feb. 14: The Office of the President sent a community-wide email on Feb. 14 at 8:30 a.m. explaining that in-person instruction and activity will pause for at least the next two weeks on the Rose Hill campus, effective immediately. This affects and prevents classroom instruction, student programming, indoor dining and Ram Van service between campuses.

Indoor athletics facilities will also be closed, and athletics practices and competitions will be suspended for this period, including the women’s basketball game at home against La Salle originally scheduled for Feb. 14.

Students will remain on campus, and Walsh Library remains open. McShane stated that “members of the Lincoln Center campus community should not visit those on the Rose Hill campus and vice versa.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.