UNC-Chapel Hill tops 1,000 COVID cases since pandemic began. But daily cases declining.
UNC-Chapel Hill reported 26 new COVID-19 cases among students Friday, putting the total number of cases at more than 1,000 since the coronavirus pandemic began.
This is the lowest daily total reported since Aug. 13. The number of daily cases has been steadily declining — with the exception of one day — since UNC announced it would switch to remote learning and limit campus housing.
The university did not report any new clusters as of Friday afternoon, but added six new cases in three residence halls — Granville Towers, Avery and Koury. A cluster of five cases in Cobb dorm, which was reported Thursday, was also added to the dashboard.
Students started moving out of dorms by appointment on Aug. 18 and were instructed to cancel their housing contracts by Aug. 25. They have until Sunday to leave residence halls.
As of Friday, the state Health and Human Services Department reports 44% of the total coronavirus cases in Orange County are among people ages 18 to 24. That age group accounts for 15% of COVID-19 cases across the state.
On its COVID-19 dashboard, UNC reports 5,003 students have been tested, with 971 positive results. UNC reports 54 employees have also tested positive since February.
Nearly 840 cases have been reported at UNC since the beginning of the fall semester.
No more alerts of clusters
The university also announced it would no longer use the Alert Carolina Emergency Notification system to share confirmed COVID-19 clusters in dorms and off-campus housing affiliated with UNC. Instead, it will use the Carolina Together website and social media for updates.
“This change in our communications in no way diminishes the University’s sense of urgency in ensuring that this information is shared in a timely, transparent and accessible fashion,” George Battle, vice chancellor for Institutional Integrity and Risk Management, said in a statement.
Battle said there are fewer students now living on campus, the positivity rate for COVID-19 cases has decreased to 10% this week and people are “now generally aware” of the presence of coronavirus on campus.
The population of students living in dorms and residence halls has been reduced by about 45% since UNC canceled in-person classes and asked students to move off campus on Aug. 17.
This story was originally published August 28, 2020 at 5:34 PM.
