A new study says that college students who gathered in popular spring break destinations may have become infected with the coronavirus and brought it back to their college campuses and communities.

According to Forbes, the study entitled “College Student Contribution to Local COVID-19 Spread: Evidence from University Spring Break Timing,” was written by Daniel Mangrum, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Economics at Vanderbilt University, and Paul Niekamp, an economics professor at Ball State University's Miller College of Business.

Their research involved tracking 7.5 million four-year university students using SafeGraph Social Distancing Metrics to follow the GPS pings on their smartphones. Students who had early spring breaks were allowed to travel far and often visited popular spots like Florida. Students who had later spring breaks scheduled were restricted, or had their spring breaks canceled, so they tended to stay closer to home.

The researchers noted that by April 30, the counties that had the early spring break travelers return had 20% higher confirmed COVID-19 cases per capita than the late spring break counties. Furthermore, they found an increase in mortality rates among the more vulnerable populations that peaked four to five weeks after the early spring breakers returned.

According to a new release from Ball State University, the authors of the study said their findings should be considered as universities plan their fall 2020 semester, particularly the Thanksgiving holiday break.

"Our results suggest that reducing long-distance student travel can reduce COVID-19 spread both within the university and for higher-risk individuals in the surrounding county," they wrote.