UNC adds 75 new COVID-19 cases over final weekend for most students to leave dorms
UNC-Chapel Hill reported 75 new COVID-19 cases among students and employees over the weekend, which was the deadline for students to move out of campus dorms and residence halls.
Nearly 900 UNC students were tested last week, and about 30% of them tested positive for COVID-19. That was the second week in a row UNC had a positivity range around 30%.
On Friday, 49 UNC students and one employee tested positive for coronavirus. The university reported 20 positive tests among students on Saturday and four on Sunday. Another employee also tested positive on Saturday, according to UNC’s COVID-19 dashboard.
The university did not report any new clusters as of Monday afternoon, but added about 20 new cases in residence halls, including Granville Towers, Avery, Koury, Ehringhaus, Hinton James, Carmichael and Craige.
Currently, 957 residents with approved hardships are living on main campus and another 122 in Granville Towers, according to UNC. But that number could change because some students have not checked out yet and the university is still processing moveout activity from the weekend.
Students who are still living campus housing may have to change rooms or residence halls and move from double to single rooms as UNC tries to reduce density in residential spaces.
The quarantine and isolation dorms for students on campus are each at about 25% capacity and have nearly 130 rooms available. Those rooms are set aside for students who have tested positive for COVID-19 or may have been exposed to someone who has.
As of Monday, the state Health and Human Services Department reports 16% of the state’s total coronavirus caseload among people ages 18 to 24. In Orange County, 46% of COVID-19 cases are in that age group, which is more than 1,000 cases.
The school reports 5,079 students have been tested since February with 1,044 positive results, which is about a 20% positivity rate. During that time, 56 UNC employees have also tested positive.
