MEDFORD, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — The mayors of Medford and Somerville have expressed concern over Tufts University’s reopening plan amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Students are being allowed to move in for fall semester on Sunday Aug. 16. It is going to be done in staggered phases through mid-September.
Tufts University said its reopening plan was created with the help of "public health experts, and in accordance with the recommendations of the governor’s working group on higher education."
"We’re getting ready to welcome students this fall in a variety of class formats—including in-person, virtual, a hybrid of the two, or fully remote—based on students’ learning needs," the school said in a statement on their website.
In a joint statement, Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone and Medford Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn asked the school to "reconsider" their reopening plan and "provide greater clarity on specific protocols because of overwhelming evidence regarding transmission rates, asymptomatic infections, lethality, and the impacts of the virus in densely populated communities, such as Somerville and Medford."
"We believe we are at another critical juncture in this ongoing and evolving crisis, where decisions that can markedly impact the transmission of this virus must be taken," the statement said.
WBZ NewsRadio's James Rojas (@JamesRojasWBZ) reports
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