Ahead of the UNC – Duke basketball game on Saturday, university and Chapel Hill officials are asking the campus community to abstain from Franklin Street celebrations if the Tar Heels see another win.
The time-honored tradition of UNC basketball fans rushing Franklin Street was discouraged this year due to health risks from the COVID-19 pandemic, but previous warnings from officials did not stop hundreds of students and fans from gathering following UNC’s win over Duke in February.
Following February’s win, UNC officials were on the lookout for spikes in campus COVID-19 cases. More than 2,600 students were tested for COVID-19 on the Monday following the game – about 500 more students than the university’s seven-day average – however, only five students tested positive.
Dr. Amir Barzin, head of the Carolina Together Testing Program at UNC, said despite concerns that the mass gathering on Franklin Street would become a super spreader event, that wasn’t the case.
“In the week leading up to that event we were still doing our asymptomatic testing on a regular and consistent basis,” Barzin said. “Our likelihood of having transmission happen because of an event like that was lower because we had likely pulled out a lot of people that were positive from the general public in terms of being able to isolate some faster.”
Barzin said Carolina Together is running anywhere from 13,000 to 15,000 routine, asymptomatic tests per week. The current positivity rate is about .06 percent. He said frequent testing allowed the Franklin Street mass gathering to be a lower-risk event.
“The second part that’s really important is that we continued testing all the way throughout,” Barzin said. “So even if there was something like that where it did cause an increase in cases, we were identifying those cases as early as possible and making sure to isolate the people who were positive.”
While there were no reported spikes in COVID cases following students rushing Franklin, university and Town of Chapel Hill officials are still encouraging the campus community to celebrate in alternative ways.
“We want you to be able to celebrate but in safer ways,” said Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger. “We want you to be able to cheer on your team, but we need you not to gather together in a large crowd. It’s still not considered safe.”
Hemminger said the university is working closely with the town and the Orange County Health Department to encourage everyone to watch and celebrate a possible win safely.
“We’re staffing up, prepared to help keep people from doing this but we’d prefer them just not to come do this,” Hemminger said. “It will be different next year. Next year we can come back to some of our usual fun, but we’re not there yet. We’re close but we’re not there yet. We’re hopeful. We’d love to see a victory, but we want to see people celebrate differently.”
To prevent another large gathering, UNC Police will provide officers to support the Town of Chapel Hill on Franklin Street following the game. Officers will also be positioned around the Dean Smith Center to provide assistance if needed. Hemminger said roads will not be closed to motor-vehicle traffic.
Instead of rushing Franklin Street, Hemminger is encouraging Chapel Hillians to patronize local businesses ahead of the game at 6 p.m.
“We want them to participate in the businesses downtown,” Hemminger said. “These are big weekends for our businesses that have been struggling. So, we’re encouraging people to get their takeout early or to eat at the business but not rush the street.”
To deter large gatherings this Saturday, UNC has offered up several different ways for students to safely watch the game. Alternative events hosted by the university include a UNC vs Duke Virtual Watch Party and a Beat Duke Trivia Night.
A video sent to the campus community on Thursday, featuring UNC Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Amy Johnson, details some these events and reminds students to continue following virus mitigation measures.
“Participating in large gatherings and rushing Franklin Street not only exposes you and others to the virus, but these actions also violate the university’s COVID-19 Community Standards and state and local gathering ordinances,” Johnson said. “Please find alternative and safe ways to cheer on our Tar Heels.”
Hear more of 97.9 The Hill’s interview with Dr. Amir Barzin here.
Lead photo via Chris Ocana/The Daily Tar Heel.
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