Notre Dame suspending in-person classes for two weeks following coronavirus spike

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Notre Dame University suspended in-person undergraduate classes for two weeks after a spike in coronavirus cases on campus.

Since students returned to campus earlier this month, 147 of the 927 tests conducted have come back positive, and all but one person, a staff member, were students.

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The 15.8% positivity rate represents a massive surge in coronavirus cases since students returned. As part of their guidelines for returning, all undergraduate and graduate students had to be tested, and 33 of the 11,836 tests done before students arrived to campus came back positive, which is just .28%.

Due to the surge, Notre Dame President Rev. John I. Jenkins said university officials started making plans to send students home for the semester and shift to remote learning, but decided instead on a two-week period of virtual learning to try to tame the spread.

Jenkins said in an address to students Tuesday that most of the infections can be linked to off-campus gatherings through contact-tracing analysis.

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“Students infected at those gatherings passed it on to others, who in turn have 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 gatherings will be limited to 10 people or fewer, public spaces on campus will be closed, dormitories will be restricted to residents only, and off-campus students will not be permitted on the campus. If restrictions don’t work after two weeks, students will be sent home to finish the semester remotely, like they did in the spring.

Notre Dame’s two-week experiment contrasts with other universities that have seen spikes in coronavirus cases.

South Building on the campus of UNC-Chapel Hill. (iStock)

UNC-Chapel Hill's instances of positive coronavirus test results on campus increased from 2.8% to 13.6% after just one week of classes. As a result, the university announced Monday it is shifting in-person undergraduate classes to remote learning for the rest of the semester.

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Michigan State University announced Tuesday remote-only learning for undergraduates this fall, just days before students were set to begin in-person classes.

"Given the current status of the virus in our country — particularly what we are seeing at other institutions as they re-populate their campus communities — it has become evident to me that, despite our best efforts and strong planning, it is unlikely we can prevent widespread transmission of COVID-19 between students if 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 are offering classes either fully or primarily in person. Meanwhile, 32% of colleges are offering classes either fully or primarily online.