Updated at 5:09 p.m.
This article by Nora Doyle-Burr was first published March 4 in the Valley News.
HANOVER, N.H. — Dartmouth College officials believe the campus might be seeing the effects of a more infectious variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 in its ongoing outbreak.
It’s “highly likely” that the college’s outbreak — which stood at 146 active cases on Thursday — has been driven by a more transmissible variant, probably the B.1.1.7 virus that originated in the United Kingdom, Dr. Lisa Adams, co-chair of Dartmouth’s Covid-19 task force, said during a virtual community conversation on Wednesday with Dartmouth Provost Joseph Helble and other college officials.
The spread of the outbreak appears to have slowed in recent days, Helble said. If that trend continues, restrictions — including holding all classes online, and requiring students to stay on campus and eat grab-and-go meals only — may soon be lifted in a stepwise fashion, he said. Curbing the outbreak also will be key to starting spring term as scheduled on March 29, officials said.
“As long as we stay on the path that we are on, we’re looking OK for spring move-in, but if for whatever reason this outbreak goes on longer and if we are still supporting a large number of people in quarantine and isolation, as we go into spring break, we may have to revisit that,” said Josh Keniston, who co-chairs the task force with Adams.
More than 305 people at Dartmouth were either in quarantine or isolation on Thursday.
While the B.1.1.7 variant has not been detected in samples collected on campus, state health officials said it was detected in New Hampshirelast month. It has been in the U.S. at least since early January and because it is more transmissible, epidemiologists have been predicting this would become the predominant strain in the U.S. by March, Adams said.
Additionally, Adams said the strain of the virus on campus currently appears to have moved from person to person quickly, which “suggests that this is a virus with a higher transmission rate.”
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College officials are working with Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center to test samples to determine whether they are correct in their hypothesis of which form of the virus is present, Adams said.
If it turns out the virus variant is present, the college’s recommendations in terms of Covid-19 safety protocols would remain the same, she said. People would continue to be asked to wear masks when around others, practice physical distancing and avoid gathering in groups.
Dartmouth Health Services Director Mark Reed said his team has been monitoring and supporting students who have tested positive. Most students have a mild form of the illness, while some have more moderate disease, he said during Wednesday’s community conversation. None have had to be hospitalized.
In addition to helping students manage their physical health, Reed said his team also has been busy helping students navigate the mental health challenges of Covid-19 including the isolation and loneliness associated with being in quarantine. Reed noted that in the midst of Dartmouth’s pandemic-related hiring freeze, the college is increasing the number of mental health clinicians on the Health Services’ staff by 50%, going from 10 to 15.
“It’s a quite a diverse staff that’s doing more outreach than ever and figuring out ways to connect with people both locally but also to support our students who are away from campus,” Reed said.
Helble said officials would announce on Friday whether the college would begin lifting restrictions.
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