FARMINGTON — Just three days after the first case of COVID-19 was reported at the University of Maine at Farmington, two more positive cases emerged Wednesday, Oct. 21.

In a letter from UMF President Edward Serna, two new positive tests were reported among residential students.

In an email on Sunday, Serna had announced that a student living on campus tested positive for COVID-19. Once UMF receives a positive test result, the finding is sent to the Maine Center for Disease Control, which conducts contact tracing. The CDC then works with UMF to contact individuals who came in contact with the infected student.

“We’ve had a meeting with the Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” Serna wrote on Wednesday, “and they have reaffirmed that we are following or exceeding all their recommended health and safety guidelines and protocols.

“I want to reiterate that our asymptomatic testing program is working as designed. Phases 1, 2 and 3 revealed no positive tests,” Serna continued. “We have just completed Phase 4 of testing, which included all on-campus students and 100 randomly selected off-campus students, faculty, and staff. As of today, three positive cases have been identified in Phase 4 of testing, and all ‘close contacts’ of COVID-19 positive individuals have been notified. If no one has been in touch with you, that means at this point you have not been identified as having had “close contact.”

The school has five weeks left until Thanksgiving break, at which point they will shift to full remote learning.

“I have confidence that our community can curb the spread of COVID-19 on campus,” Serna wrote. “It is because of caring and diligent students and staff like yourself that we have been so successful and will continue to be, moving forward.”

Comments are not available on this story.