Total number of virus cases at Virginia Tech rises to 178

By The Associated Press
August 31, 2020 | 10:43 AM

BLACKSBURG, Va. — The total number of coronavirus cases among students and employees at Virginia Tech has risen to 178.

The Roanoke Times reported Monday that there was an increase of 157 positive tests for the week ending Sunday. The university’s positivity rate is 1.8% out of 10,053 tests.

Virginia Tech had required an estimated 8,600 students living on campus to take a COVID-19 test.

As of Sunday, 48 students were confined to isolation spaces.

The school in Blacksburg has set aside 425 beds for quarantine space.

Breaking the silence around suicide: A Virginia mother shares thoughts on prevention

By Kate Ryan
September 1, 2026 | 4:22 AM

September is Suicide Prevention Month, and Betsy Stephenson, an Alexandria, Virginia, resident and a mother who lost her son to suicide, wants people to talk about it. "By not talking about suicide, we are not going to make it go away. In fact, I think that we could inadvertently give it a little more power than it deserves," she told WTOP. One of the things that Stephenson wants families to know is that people who are struggling can appear to be doing well. "You can be very high-functioning as a depressed person or an anxious person," she said. "You can be connected socially. You can be doing well at school or work. You can be making plans, smiling, laughing, engaged, but still be struggling deeply, you know, cosmically, inside."

Related Stories