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Monmouth University is dealing with a coronavirus outbreak.
The university in New Jersey has 319 confirmed coronavirus cases that have been linked to an off-campus event.
According to an update from the university, the outbreak was linked to a “super-spreader” event.
“It appears that this increase in cases among students was tied to an off-campus event hosted two weeks ago,” president Patrick Leahy told students. “An overwhelming majority of the recent cases we have seen can be traced back to this isolated super-spreader event.
“Moving forward, we will need 100% cooperation from our campus community in order to resume our fall semester as planned.”
“I cannot emphasize enough the critical importance of compliance . . . The future of our fall semester will rest, in large part, on the ability of everyone to follow these necessary protocols,”
The coronavirus mainly comes from animals and a majority of those who were infected early either worked at or frequently visited the Huanan seafood wholesale market in Wuhan, according to The Guardian. The virus is similar to Severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) and Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome (Mers).
The Wuhan coronavirus is transmitted from person to person through “droplet transmission.” That means an infected person can pass the virus by sneezing or coughing on another person as well as by direct contact.
While a majority of the cases have been detected in the United States and China — with more than 7.53 million confirmed cases and 211,000 deaths in the United States — it has now reached many countries around the world. It has also been confirmed in Italy, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and many other eastern countries.
