Ahead of its first day of classes for the spring semester, UNC shared the latest COVID-19 testing data of the campus community.

While Tuesday’s courses will be entirely virtual learning, many students and employees returned to the Chapel Hill area in the last week. As part of the university’s requirements, those living on campus, and in the greater community, had to complete re-entry testing to confirm they are negative for the virus.

According to the university, more than 6,900 people completed their re-entry or first required asymptomatic tests within the last six days. Two of three on-campus testing centers were open during this period, as well as temporary testing spots at residence halls during move-in, which began January 13.

Additionally, UNC updated its Carolina Together Dashboard, which aims to show the latest testing data for the campus community. As of Monday, the dashboard does not show cumulative data past Thursday, January 14. Since the beginning of January, though, the university reports 171 students and 110 employees have tested positive for COVID-19. 16 student cases and 2 employee cases were reported as the daily count on Monday.

UNC said the start of classes will see the opening of all three main testing centers on campus: the Frank Porter Graham Student Union, the Rams Head Recreation Center’s multipurpose room and the CURRENT ArtSpace and Studio. Upon arrival, students will check in using the new Hall Pass website to fill out brief information, perform the self-administered nasal swab test and then will receive test results in less than 48 hours. The university says undergraduate students living on campus and in the Chapel Hill community must be tested twice a week during the spring semester.

On Monday, UNC said it would also begin rolling out a reservation feature on Hall Pass to decrease waiting time in lines to the testing centers. According to a release, this feature will allow two lines to be created at testing centers: one for those with timed reservations and another for walk-up testing. UNC said it is encouraging students to make reservations for the rest of the spring semester to ensure their testing experiences move quickly and wait time is limited.

The change in testing protocols for UNC’s campus community comes after more than a dozen clusters of positive coronavirus cases being reported during the university’s fall semester. According to the Carolina Together Dashboard, 1,446 students and 185 employees tested positive for the virus in 2020. On January 13, the university also reported a cluster of positive cases at Carmichael Residence Hall among students living there over winter break.

Hours for the three COVID-19 testing centers on UNC’s campus can be found on the Carolina Together website.

 

Photo via Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill.

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