A library worker at Queens College tested positive for the coronavirus, authorities said Sunday night.
The employee is asymptomatic — not ill — but the college is shutting down the CUNY campus Monday out of an “abundance of caution” to sanitize the facilities, the administration said.
Students are on spring break, but the school will be closed to all but essential employees, said Queens College interim president William Tramontano.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo last week ordered that all SUNY and CUNY colleges eliminate large classes and move toward distance learning or online courses to stem the spread of COVID-19. The edict includes Queens College, which is part of CUNY.
A student at John Jay College of Criminal Justice was stricken with COVID-19, it was revealed last week.
“I write to inform you that a Queens College staff member tested positive for the coronavirus (COVID-19). The staffer works in the library and was last on campus on Tuesday, March 10. Because he was and is asymptomatic, the risk to our community is low,” Tramontano said in a note sent to the campus community of faculty, staff and students.
“However,” he said, “out of an abundance of caution, Queens College will be closed tomorrow, Monday, March 16. Only essential personnel is expected on campus as will be identified by the appropriate vice president or assistant vice president.”
Tramontano said college officials will consult further with health officials and “deep-clean” any campus building visited by the staffer — “including but not limited to Rosenthal Library.”
“We are in the process of notifying individuals who may have worked with or near him,” the college president said.