Northwestern University president Morton Schapiro says he has “moderate symptoms,” after being diagnosed with having COVID-19.
In a university news release, Schapiro said that COVID was confirmed on Tuesday night.
Schapiro, who has led NU since September 2009 and will retire later this year says he is “fully vaccinated and boosted,” but in accordance with CDC and university health guidelines, he has canceled a scheduled university-related trip to New York.
Schapiro also expressed “gratitude for caring family and friends and effective vaccines.” And he encouraged everyone to keep up to date with their shots and take other necessary precautions “as we continue to care for one another.”
Northwestern has seen an upward trend in the student and staff COVID positivity rate and number of cases in since the return from spring break at the end of March.
The most recent period, April 29 – May 5, saw a 7.40% rate and 302 new cases, according to the NU COVID dashboard. Just before break, March 11-17, there were only 34 cases.
Still, NU officials have said they have no plans to re-institute on-campus masking requirements for the rest of the current term.
While the number of COVID cases is increasing, those infected are still a tiny fraction of NU’s more than 20,000 students, and more than 6,000 full-and-part-time employees.