UC Berkeley bans outdoor exercise, extends dorm lockdowns after 164 people test positive for coronavirus

BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA – JULY 22: People walk towards Sather Gate on the U.C. Berkeley campus on July 22, 2020 in Berkeley, California. U.C. Berkeley announced plans on Tuesday to move to online education for the start of the school’s fall semester due to the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

UC Berkeley has banned outdoor exercise and extended dorm lockdowns after more than 160 people tested positive for the coronavirus in the first week of February.

According to the university’s COVID-19 tracker, 164 people tested positive for the deadly virus; 95% of the cases came from undergraduate students. Five faculty or staff members and three graduate students also tested positive. The university’s positive rate for that week was 1.6% while the city of Berkeley’s was 0.6%.

In an email to students this week, the university said that though the new cases are slowing, a “significant number of students remain in quarantine.”

“We must be cautious in lifting this sequestration,” the email said.

Source: KTLA5