Orange County began August with nearly 1,300 total positive coronavirus cases. In a rapid rise, more than 800 new cases have been reported with a few days left in the month.

Chair of the Board of Orange County Commissioners Penny Rich attributes many of these cases to be from UNC students, many of which returned to Chapel Hill for in-person instruction this fall semester.

In a recent conversation with 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck, Rich said examining the age demographics of the county’s cases is a telling data point. In July, the 18-24 year-old range made up just a fifth of the tallied positive cases. Now, that age demographic makes up 45 percent of them.

“You have Orange County data, the state’s data and then the university’s data,” she said about how exact COVID-19 cases are shared. “They’re all sort of reporting in different ways and it might be confusing. But if you look at the whole picture, you can see the majority of the cases are coming from UNC and we can tell that by the age group that’s testing positive.”

Rich said the recent example of the Chapel Hill Police Department issuing citations to students who hosted parties is what might be needed to protect public health. With Orange County’s emergency order still limiting gatherings to less than 10 people indoors, she said it’s important for everyone to keep following guidelines to limit the coronavirus’ spread.

“It’s time to get serious, folks,” said Rich. “We cannot continue to see these parties. It’s dangerous to the students, it’s dangerous to the community.”

With these new cases, the county commissioner said the local government is working daily with UNC to determine the impact on the community. Orange County Health organized testing events in Chapel Hill that ran Wednesday and Thursday, and even added one for Friday in the area. Running from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., anyone can get a free nasal swab test completed at 725 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

In addition, the Orange County Health Department issued a release Thursday encouraging college students traveling home from high-transmission areas to self-isolate for 14 days as a precaution. UNC reports many students have left on-campus housing following the university’s move to exclusively remote instruction.

According to Rich, efforts like these are critical to continue getting a clear picture of the coronavirus within Orange County.

“The testing and the contact tracing…we’re stepping that up and it’s going to be the most important part [as we] try and combat this right now,” she said.

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