Coronavirus live updates: U.S. cases more than quadrupled since Memorial Day

The days of packed dining halls are, for now, over.

When close gatherings can spur an outbreak of a potentially life-threatening disease, dining on campus this semester will hardly be normal. The traditional breaking of bread in crowded dining rooms — before class, after a night out, in the middle of the day for lunchtime — is another college tradition students will miss this year as campuses enact measures to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Buffet-style dining at the University of Maryland at College Park has been replaced with carry­out meals. Students under a two-week quarantine at Catholic University in Northeast Washington picked their meals up from food tents pitched across campus. Freshmen at CU spent a recent afternoon sitting outside in Adirondack chairs — spaced about six feet apart — and eating cheeseburgers with pasta salad.