Barnes Center shuts down due to uptick in student coronavirus cases

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Syracuse University has shut down the Barnes Center at The Arch due to an uptick of coronavirus cases among SU students. 

SU has also closed all satellite gyms, including Ernie Davis Fitness Center and workout spaces on the Women’s Building field. The university has canceled all in-person student activities until further notice, with the exception of classes, associated coursework and intercollegiate athletics. This includes all student organization and university-sponsored events.

The university identified a cluster of coronavirus cases Tuesday among students related to at least one off-campus party that took place late last week. SU had identified as many as 45 new cases related to the cluster as of Tuesday evening and is expecting to find more in the coming days, Vice Chancellor Mike Haynie said in an SU News release.

Robert Snow, assistant director for esports, told Barnes Center employees in an email obtained by The Daily Orange that they can’t come into work if they had shifts Tuesday. Snow did not know how long the shutdown would last. An SU employee inside the Barnes Center on Tuesday turned students away.

Senior Angella Hwang, who is a supervisor in the esports center, said a member of the Barnes Center’s professional staff came in Tuesday afternoon and told the staff to go home. The employee did not provide any details about the reason for the short-notice closure or how long it might last, Hwang said.

“I think many of us were just as puzzled as they were,” she said.

The university has not updated its coronavirus dashboard to reflect the cluster of cases. The dashboard currently shows an increase of 16 coronavirus cases since Monday among students in central New York, with the total number of active cases among students, faculty and staff in central New York rising to 25. There are 62 students in quarantine, an increase of 22 since Monday.