Four contractors test positive for COVID-19; no contact with employees or students

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Daily file photo by Daniel Tian

Four contractors who visited several campus buildings have tested positive for COVID-19.

James Pollard, Campus Editor

Four contractors who visited a variety of campus buildings have tested positive for COVID-19, University spokesperson Jon Yates told The Daily in an email Friday.

The individuals did not have contact with any University employees or students, Yates said, and the impacted facilities all have been cleaned and disinfected.

The University has stopped sending mass emails informing students, faculty and staff of new cases across the Chicago and Evanston campuses, instead updating its coronavirus webpage as additional individuals report positive tests. In total, Northwestern has confirmed 12 cases.

The University updated its web page that tracks all cases on Thursday, saying people from “multiple campus buildings for a limited duration” tested positive for COVID-19. The page did not differentiate between students, faculty or staff members, nor listed any buildings.

The most recent reported coronavirus case, updated Monday, was a student living off-campus. No campus buildings had been impacted by that case, University spokesperson Jon Yates wrote in an email Wednesday.

Students are encouraged to contact Northwestern Health Service with any new COVID-19 diagnoses, according to the coronavirus webpage. Faculty and staff should notify their school or unit’s top operational lead and the University’s Director of Environmental Health and Safety, Gwen Butler.

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Twitter: @pamesjollard