HAMPDEN-SYDNEY — Hampden-Sydney College cancelled Thursday afternoon classes and shut down administrative offices for the week, with plans to reopen on Monday morning, due to widespread gastrointestinal illness on the campus.

All weekend athletic events have been cancelled.

From 17 reported cases Wednesday morning, the number had grown within 24 hours to approximately 300 students who had been treated at Centra or the college’s wellness center, according to college spokesman Tommy Shomo.
“We’ve had quite a siege out here,” he said Thursday afternoon. “We’re guessing we’ve got about 300 kids sick.”

Health Department officials believe it is a Norovirus but no conclusive lab tests have been performed.

“We’re not 100 percent sure what the virus is,” Shomo said. “The advice we got from the health department was to treat it as a Norovirus but they would not say that it is a Norovirus because there has been any conclusive lab testing done yet but that is the logical way to proceed no matter what it is.”