A Pepperdine University student has tested positive for COVID-19, according to information shared by the Pepperdine Emergency Operations Committee.
The student in question was a participant in the university’s study abroad program in London, UK; all students in the program had been sent home following an announcement suspending all Pepperdine international campus programs as of Friday, March 13. Other students in the program were sent a notice of the test results on Monday, March 16.
“The university does not have independent verification of these results but is proceeding with its protocols as if the test result is verified,” the notice stated. It was not known whether the student had contact with other program participants since contracting the illness; however, it was confirmed the student had not returned to the Pepperdine campus.
“The individual flew home from their international program location and did not visit any of the university’s domestic campuses,” the university’s statement said.
Other students who took part in the London program are asked to quarantine themselves for 14 days, per guidelines set out by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Quarantine is defined as “the separation of a person or group of people reasonably believed to have been exposed to a communicable disease but not yet symptomatic, from others who have not been so exposed, to prevent the possible spread of the communicable disease,” according to the CDC.
Pepperdine University did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The university additionally announced it would be postponing its commencement ceremonies (originally set for May 1 and 2) due to the limit on social gatherings mandated by the state. Pepperdine specified that graduating students would participate in a ceremony at a later date.
For more information, visit emergency.pepperdine.edu.