The University of Notre Dame has suspended two weeks of in-person undergraduate classes following a spike in cases of coronavirus on campus.
Since students returned to campus earlier this month, 147 of the 927 tests returned positive, and all but one person, a staff member, were students.
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The positivity rate of 15.8% represents a massive increase in cases of coronavirus since students returned. As part of their return guidelines, all undergraduate and graduate students had to be tested, and 33 of the 11,836 tests done before students returned to campus returned positive, which is just .28%.
Because of the turnout, said Notre Dame president, Rev. John I. Jenkins, university officials, began making plans to send students home for the semester and shift to distance learning, but instead decided over a two-week period of virtual learning to try the spread.
Jenkins said in an address to students Tuesday that most of the infections could be linked to off-campus meetings through contact-tracing analysis.
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“Students infected at those meetings passed it on to others, who in turn passed the virus on to a further group, resulting in the positive cases we have seen,” Jenkins said.
The university also said that for the next two weeks student meetings will be limited to 10 people or less, public spaces on campus will be closed, bedrooms will be restricted to residents only, and students from off-campus will not be allowed on campus. If restrictions do not work after two weeks, students are sent home to complete the semester remotely, such as in the spring.
The two-week Notre Dame experiment contrasts with other universities that have seen spikes in cases of coronavirus.
Buildings in the south on the campus of UNC-Chapel Hill. (iStock)
The UNC-Chapel Hill instances of positive test results for coronavirus on campus increased from just 2.8% to 13.6% after just one week of classes. As a result, the university announced Monday that it is moving undergraduate classes to further study for the remainder of the semester.
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Michigan State University announced Tuesday only distance learning for undergraduates this day, just days before students were set to begin in-person classes.
“Given the current status of the virus in our country – in particular what we see in other institutions as they repopulate their campus communities – it has become clear to me that, despite our best efforts and strong planning, it is unlikely that we can prevent extensive transmission of COVID-19 between students as our undergraduates return to campus, ”MSU President Samuel Stanley said in a letter Tuesday.
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According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, only 22.5% of colleges offer classes, whether entirely or primarily personal. Meanwhile, 32% of colleges offer classes or full as primary online.
