TEXARKANA, Texas (KTAL/KMSS) – A potential case of the coronavirus on the campus of Texas A&M Texarkana has folks on campus and around town on edge.

Texas A&M at Texarkana officials sent an email out to faculty and staff of the school late Monday, urging students to take precautions and wash their hands thoroughly and regularly. Officials state in the letter that a TAMUT student ‘may have been exposed to COVID-19 and is being evaluated.

Eagle Family, Out of an abundance of caution, an A&M-Texarkana student who may have been exposed to COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Is being voluntarily evaluated. We are taking appropriate precautionary health measures to isolate the student until results are received. We will keep you updated as additional information is available. Please follow the standard precautions for communicable diseases – wash your hands thoroughly and regularly. If you are ill, do not attend classes or campus activities. Seek medical attention if you have symptoms such as fever and sore throat. Resources regarding Coronavirus are available on our university’s website www.tamut.edu. Thank you, Emily Cutrer

That message was posted on Facebook and has since gone viral around town.

“There were some people who were aware that we might have had a student who had been exposed and we didn’t want rumors to start or get people overly concerned. We wanted people to know the facts,” said Emily Cutrer, President of Texas A&M Texarkana.

President Emily Cutrer said the student was attending an out-of-state event where possible cases of the coronavirus were present. To protect the privacy of the student, the university hasn’t released any information on the state this person visited.

“Our student went to have a test at the hospital and we are awaiting the results,” said Cutrer.

Campus safety officials are encouraging people to take precautionary measures like washing their hands and covering their mouths if they cough.

Due to the spread of the coronavirus, household essentials like bleach, disinfectant wipes, hand sanitizer, and gloves are flying off the shelves. In fact, some of these items are even selling out at local stores.

For the past week, some Texarkana stores have been limiting the number of items customers can buy and they’re encouraging them to order online.

“We are limiting certain products such as the hand-sanitizer, the sanitizing wipes, and that’s just so we can service as many guests as we possibly can,” said Robert Johnson, Target, Executive of Human Resources.

One Texas A&M student hopes her classmates don’t bring back any cold or virus symptoms while traveling on spring break.

“It’s really scary because it’s a university and spring break is coming up and people are going to be going all kinds of places for spring break,” said Chidra Ofoh, Freshman at Texas A&M Texarkana.

The university’s president says her goals are to keep everyone informed and safe. Once she receives the student’s results, members of the community will be notified. It’s unclear when they will get that information. We do want to emphasize that classes are still on schedule and proceeding as normal.

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