The Shaw Hall cafeteria will remain closed during the weekend as MSU employees continue to clean and disinfect the hall, which is believed to be where a virus that sickened more than 30 MSU students this week originated from.
University spokesman Jason Cody said the Shaw Hall cafeteria will not re-open until Monday at the earliest as workers disinfect the cafeteria from Norovirus, which has caused 32 to 34 students to be hospitalized since Wednesday morning.
Any areas where those sickened might have been, such as dorm rooms, bathrooms and drinking fountains, are being disinfected before the cafeteria is re-opened.
As of Friday afternoon, four MSU students remained hospitalized, Sparrow Hospital spokeswoman Rose Tantraphol said. Two more students were admitted Thursday night and Friday morning with symptoms similar to those caused by the virus.
The students all are expected to be released this evening, Tantraphol said. None of the estimated 30 students were ever in serious condition.
About 30 more students with symptoms similar to those of the Norovirus have been treated at Olin Health Center since Wednesday, Cody said. None of those students were hospitalized.
Whether students treated at Olin Health Center had the virus is unknown because lab samples were not taken from those students, Cody said.
Cody said he doesn’t expect any procedural changes at the campus’ cafeterias because the virus likely was not food-borne.
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