Orange County extends COVID-19 emergency order through Oct. 31, amid new UNC clusters

Update: The story was updated at 8:30 a.m. Aug. 25, 2020, to reflect that UNC students were treated at the hospital but were not admitted.

Orange County extended its local State of Emergency through Oct. 31 on Wednesday, amid two new COVID-19 clusters at the university.

The announcement came the same day UNC moved all undergraduate classes online, after 130 students tested positive for the coronavirus last week.

Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger, the police chief and town manager met Wednesday with UNC’s police chief and other university officials to talk about off-campus enforcement of local and state rules.

The town sent UNC-Chapel Hill and UNC System officials a letter Tuesday asking them to take a firmer hand off campus, Hemminger said Wednesday morning in an interview with The News & Observer.

The N&O was unable to reach the mayor by phone or text message for a follow-up interview Wednesday afternoon. Chapel Hill Police Chief Chris Blue also did not return a call seeking comment.

Chapel Hill and UNC police and other town-gown staff created a task force this summer to handle student parties and other issues. The group has focused on warning students about violations of local and state rules, such as the state limit on gatherings.

Citations, which are being reserved for repeat or egregious violations, have not yet been issued.

“We give a warning, and if people change their behavior on the spot, like disband or do whatever, then we don’t issue a citation, but we record who it is and where it is,” Hemminger said Wednesday morning. “If we’re called back again, even if it’s several weeks later, then you will get a citation.”

That protocol was set up, in part, to avoid making enforcement a criminal matter, she said. Violating the state order is a Class 2 misdemeanor that can result in fines, community service or jail time, depending on the offense and how many times someone is cited.

The town alerts UNC after issuing a citation to a student, Hemminger said, but she thinks UNC now might want alerts about warnings.

“We just need to be on the same page,” she said.

Wednesday evening, UNC announced two new clusters of COVID-19 cases at the Morrison residence hall and Zeta Psi fraternity house, 200 W. Cameron Ave. It did not, and has not, reported how many students are affected in the clusters, which the state defines as five or more confirmed cases in close proximity.

UNC previously reported four clusters in two on-campus dorms, at the university-affiliated Granville Towers apartments and at Sigma Nu fraternity.

Meanwhile, Chapel Hill police responded to seven parties two weekends ago, and one additional party last weekend.

The county had 1,562 positive cases as of Wednesday, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. Roughly 28% of those cases were in people ages 18-24 — up from 22% Aug. 12 — while the number of cases for those ages 25-49 fell to 35%.

The county’s total case numbers fell steadily from July 6 to Aug. 13, when it started to have double-digit, daily spikes, the data showed.

Student cases, incomplete data

The county first declared its emergency declaration March 13 and has revised and extended it several times, adding rules like mandatory face coverings and a 10 p.m. curfew on alcohol sales and restaurant dining-room service. It was scheduled to expire Aug. 31.

This extension, signed by Penny Rich, the chair of the Orange County Board of Commissioners, allows governing bodies to continue to meet virtually, according to a county news release. It also lets Orange County extend emergency procurement procedures and request state and federal aid as needed.

Carrboro Fire Chief Dave Schmidt told the Town Council in a report Tuesday that Orange County’s health director is expecting to see more cases and more clusters. The county’s average is 17 new cases a day now, an increase of 23% over the last three weeks, he said.

About 25 UNC students went to the hospital with COVID symptoms on Friday, he said, and others were treated at the hospital over the weekend. The university has reported 279 confirmed student cases and 45 staff cases since February, including the recent clusters.

UNC’s public dashboard is updated once a week with information from Campus Health, Orange County officials have said. The county’s dashboard is updated daily with numbers from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. The county may not see results for a week from students who test positive at a clinic that unaffiliated with UNC Campus Health or who provide an out-of-town address.

The county will be “fighting through that data as we go along,” Schmidt said. “At this point, no one is certain whether the UNC positive cases are impacting our numbers or not,” he said.

The confusion about the number of positive student cases causes anxiety for residents, Carrboro council member Jacqueline Gist said.

“We need to find ways of getting clear, accurate, precise information, and the only reason it’s being held up is different bureaucracies,” Gist said. “I think people would be calmer if they had a thorough understanding and if they knew that they’re getting accurate data that accounts for the entire border of Orange County.”

Orange County Health Director Quintana Stewart and the university understands the problem and is trying to find solutions, said Mayor Lydia Lavelle, who represents the town at the weekly meetings. She has suggested requiring students as part of their contract with UNC to report positive results to the university.

“We will continue to harp on them and tell them to do it, but I really think they’re trying to work through it,” Lavelle said. “They want accurate data and transparency as much as anyone.”

Duke, NCSU infections

Off-campus students and those living in private fraternity and sorority houses remain the concern for many in Chapel Hill and Carrboro. Roughly a third of UNC’s student population lives off campus in a typical year; this year, about 16% of students were living on campus.

UNC officials said about 500 students started checking out of their dorms Tuesday following the move to online classes, Schmidt said.

But UNC is not the only state university reporting student coronavirus cases and clusters.

N.C. State University confirmed at least one off-campus cluster Tuesday and eight positive cases involving fraternity and sorority members. NCSU’s online dashboard on Wednesday appeared to report 83 student cases but the setup of the dashboard makes it unclear if that number is accurate.

NCSU officials reported two additional coronavirus clusters at sorority houses Wednesday evening.

Duke University reported Monday that there have been 11 cases out of 5,765 students tested since returning to campus Aug. 2. Duke also is is investigating seven instances of flagrant misconduct or repeat violations of COVID-19 safety rules, officials said.

This story was originally published August 19, 2020 at 2:27 PM.