UNC has launched a comprehensive coronavirus dashboard which will track the number of COVID-19 cases across students and faculty.
“The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill believes everyone in our campus community deserves equal access to information,” the website reads. “The UNC-Chapel Hill CV-19 Dashboard is available to provide data to make decisions for public health.”
As of Sunday, the dashboard shows that 137 students and 36 staff members have tested positive for coronavirus since the university began collecting data in March. The past seven day total is 13 cases (11 students, 2 staff).
UNC has also provided information on the number of positive and negative tests performed for students. During the week of July 26, 135 tests were performed and only 11 were positive (8.6%). Additionally, it shows the isolation and quarantine capacity on campus and the availability of personal protective equipment.
In July, a cluster of coronavirus cases was reported on campus after 37 members of the UNC Athletics department tested positive for the virus. The Orange County Health Department made the determination to label it as a cluster, according to UNC.
Earlier this summer, the university urged individual schools, departments and units to “not communicate about COVID-19 positive cases broadly to their populations.”
“The university will determine the release of non-identifying communications about clusters of positive results based on approved guidelines,” wrote provost Bob Blouin at the time.
UNC and other colleges across the country have come under scrutiny for their response to the pandemic and bringing students back to campus.
UNC’s residence halls will be open at full capacity, which puts the buildings in the ‘highest risk’ category for the spread of the coronavirus, based on the Centers for Disease Control’s guidelines for colleges and universities.
The university, however, has reported its housing numbers are decreasing. According to Carolina Housing Executive Director Allan Blattner, more than 2,100 students have notified UNC they will not be living on campus this academic year since May 1.
More information on UNC’s plan for testing students, faculty and contact tracing can be found here.
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Wow and they still want us to come back to work