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UMD Quarantining 200 Students After New COVID-19 Outbreak

CREDIT CARMICHAELLIBRARY/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

After a new outbreak of COVID-19, the University of Maryland, College Park is quarantining 200 students in one of its dorms for 14 days. The union representing thousands of employees at the university says it’s concerned about the safety of workers and students. 

Stuart Katzenberg, a representative of the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Maryland Council 3, which oversees the union local. Katzenberg said that members of the union working at Denton Hall, where the students are quarantined, are now at risk of contracting the virus.

“We’re worried about their safety, their family’s safety, the community’s safety,” he said. “They’re not doing enough to protect our members who work across College Park and they’re not doing enough to protect the students either.”

Katzenberg said the university has refused to bargain health and safety issues with the union during the pandemic. 

“Unfortunately this is what happens when you don’t allow front line workers at the table to protect everyone,” he said. 

The university reported 88 new cases for the week of Sept. 6 to Sept. 12 on its COVID-19 dashboard. 

Sarah Y. Kim is WYPR’s health and housing reporter. Kim is WYPR's Report for America corps member, and Anthony Brandon Fellow. Kim joined WYPR as a 2020-2021 corps member for Report for America, an initiative of The GroundTruth Project that pairs young journalists with local newsrooms. Now in her second year as an RFA corps member, Kim is based in Baltimore City.
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