(KAIR) - It will be business as usual at Benedictine College in Atchison on Friday as a proposed quarantine order has been placed on hold for now as negotiations continue.

That's according to Steve Johnson, Director of Marketing and Communications at the college.

The announcement follows a round of negotiations that took place between the college and Atchison County officials during the day on Thursday. 

Those talks stemmed from a disagreement between the two entities that played out during a special Wednesday evening meeting of the Atchison County Commission. 

During the meeting, Atchison County Health Officer Lori Forge issued an order calling for all students, living both on and off campus, to quarantine for 14 days, in an effort to reduce the spread of Covid-19 in the local area. 

The quarantine was initially set to begin at 12:01 Thursday morning, but was delayed to 12:01 Friday morning.

The order stated that a total of 142 confirmed Covid-19 cases had been directly related to Benedictine College.

The order also states "there is reason to believe that any person who resided on campus or attended any in person class, activity, or gathering on campus between August 19th and September 2nd has been exposed to Covid-19."

Benedictine College President Steven Minnis, who was representing the college at the meeting, told commissioners that he vehemently objected to the order, calling it “draconion”.

The college has submitted a compromise proposal to county officials that would quarantine off-campus students only, who would be required to do on-line classes. 

Minnis said that as of Wednesday evening, there were 39 active cases at the college, which he said represents a very low percentage of the total student and staff population of around 2,500.

He adds that mitigation practices were strengthened at the college beginning on Saturday to address the virus.