Nearly 350 UNC students and employees have tested positive for COVID so far this month
UNC-Chapel Hill reported 112 students tested positive for COVID-19 before they returned to campus or to the Chapel Hill and Carrboro area for the spring semester.
All undergraduate students were required to submit a negative test before moving into dorms or starting classes, which began Tuesday. But the university delayed in-person classes for three weeks because of the rising number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations across North Carolina.
Last week, UNC also reported its first cluster of six coronavirus cases among students who’d been living in the Carmichael residence hall over winter break. About 260 students and 83 employees have tested positive for COVID-19 so far this month, according to UNC’s COVID-19 dashboard.
The university has completed more than 13,500 tests at its three testing centers and seven pop-up testing sites at residence halls on campus since opening on Jan. 11. Students and employees have to wait about 24 hours to get their results.
Most students are also tested weekly and the positivity rate for asymptomatic testing is 0.54%, UNC reported.
Long lines for testing
Graduate and professional students were exempt from the prior to arrival testing, but must participate in weekly asymptomatic testing throughout the spring semester if they’re going to campus.
Many students were frustrated by the long lines and wait times during the first week of mandatory testing, the Daily Tar Heel reported.
Sophomore Lamar Richards tweeted photos of lines of students stretching through campus and said some students just turned around because nearby parking lots were full.
UNC recognized the high participation numbers after the Martin Luther King day holiday weekend and started a two-line system for reservations and walk-ins to keep appointments efficient and lower the wait times at the testing sites around campus. The university will also start using 30-minute increments instead of an hour for appointment windows on the app HallPass, so that students have a better idea of when they’ll be tested.
Any UNC student or employee can get tested for free at the Frank Porter Graham Student Union, CURRENT ArtSpace + Studio on Franklin Street and the UNC Rams Head Recreation Center.
This story was originally published January 22, 2021 at 4:21 PM.
