LEXINGTON, Va. – Virginia Military Institute sees a recent spike in coronavirus cases this week.
Five staff members and 51 cadets have tested positive for COVID-19 and are now quarantining in a hotel off post.
To stop the spread, leaders have suspended visitation and march downs.
The military college is also enforcing a 10-foot distance during physical training.
Last semester, 49 cadets contracted the virus.
In an effort to minimize the spread, when cadets arrived this semester in late January, 17 were told to quarantine after testing positive in the parking lot.
However, VMI Communications Director Bill Wyatt said the spread tends to happen in close-quarter barracks, so they are spreading people out as they disinfect.
“We reduced the visitation the contact among the cadets and that seemed to help things,” Wyatt said. “So we kind of moved back to that.”
While a vaccination plan is still underway, about a dozen medical staff members and 30 cadets who are trained as EMTs have received their doses of the vaccine.