EAST LANSING, Mich. - Another university is reporting a ballooning of COVID-19 cases amid its off-campus student population; this time the call coming from East Lansing.
Michigan State University officials say 124 of its students have tested positive for the virus since Aug. 30.
Entirely made up of students living in apartments and houses around the university, large gatherings in recent weeks have catalyzed an outbreak of coronavirus reports in the last nine days.
In a news release issued Tuesday morning, the school said the numbers reflect "symptomatic students who were tested at MSU testing locations or self-reported an off-campus positive test to the university."
It's not much of a surprise to the president.
"As students return to off-campus housing, some are attending large gatherings where people are in close contact without an appropriate face covering. This is the easiest and fastest way for the coronavirus to spread," said President Samuel L. Stanley Jr., M.D.
Michigan State's report is the latest in growing list of state schools working to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 as it welcomes students back for the 2020 school year.
In late August, health officials at Central Michigan identified 54 cases of the virus only a week after students had returned to campus in Mount Pleasant. Much of the transmission was linked to "pockets of positive cases" like Greek-affiliated houses and apartment complexes.
Only weeks before classes were set to begin, Michigan State opted to begin the semester in an entirely virtual start. After identifying trends of increasing cases that followed returns to campus, the school closed dormitory living to anyone who hadn't already moved in.
RELATED: As students return to campus at UofM, Central Michigan faces a COVID-19 spike
Ingham County, the site of the university which has been chasing cases since the beginning of the summer, reported some of its highest increases in COVID-19 over the past week.
"The increase is directly tied to various social gatherings, many of which were over capacity. We cannot allow this to continue. If students do not take precautions to heart, more drastic measures will be required,” said Ingham County Health Officer Linda S. Vail.