At least 28 students from the University of Texas tested positive for COVID-19 after a group of young adults went on a spring break trip to Mexico, according to school and Austin officials.
The Austin Public Health Department confirmed that about 70 people “in their 20s” took a chartered plane to Cabo San Lucas. After they returned, 28 tested positive for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus while more are “under public health investigation.”
Health officials have “made contact with every spring breaker onboard the plane using flight manifests from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention,” a statement from Austin’s government said before adding that the 28 patients have self-quarantined. “Others are under quarantine while being monitored and tested. The Department of State Health Services has been notified,” the agency said.
The University of Texas at Austin told NBC News in a statement that the 28 spring break revelers who tested positive for the CCP virus are students at the school.
The development comes as spring breakers faced backlash for going on vacation despite the viral pandemic. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has also come under pressure for not closing all of the state’s beaches.
Earlier this month, five college students from the University of Tampa contracted the CCP virus after they returned from a spring break trip.
“UT has been notified that five UT students, traveling together and with other UT students during Spring Break, have tested positive for COVID-19. We sincerely wish our students, and any others who may be affected, a full and rapid recovery,” the school wrote in a statement on March 21.
