UNC Requests Departments Not 'Broadly' Share COVID-19 Cases, Citing Privacy Laws

UNC’s latest update on its protocols for the upcoming fall semester included details on making COVID-19 test results public, clarifications on class sizes and how instruction will be delivered.

In his weekly update on the implementation of the Carolina Roadmap for Fall 2020, Provost Bob Blouin shared more details on testing for the campus community and what happens following positive tests. The message said contact tracing will be conducted to communicate directly with those who were in close contact with a positive COVID-19 case. But UNC urged 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 Blouin.

The provost said this tactic will be consistent with privacy laws like the State Human Resources Act and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, as well as additional privacy considerations the university implements.

This choice in reporting cases falls in line with a decision from Carolina Athletics shared in May, which said the athletics department would not publicly provide information about specific individuals who test positive for the coronavirus.

Blouin also shared news on class sizes and the methods of instruction available to students. He said courses taught in-person will be capped at a capacity of 35 students, unless a request by the school’s dean is approved by the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost. Courses will be categorized by four types of instruction: face-to-face with a few remote components, hyflex courses that blend in-person instruction and virtual components, remote and recitation courses that are largely virtual and exclusively remote. Face-to-face/hybrid courses will be only for students coming to UNC’s campus this fall, while hyflex is for both in-person learners and remote learners. Recitations for courses could be conducted in face-to-face, hyflex or remote methods too.

In addition to those updates, the provost clarified a detail from last week’s update regarding public health guidelines. Instead of being a minimum of three feet apart in classroom settings, students and instructors will be asked to remain at least six feet apart. That distance will be the standard for all classrooms unless a school requests for an exception, according to the release.

Fall undergraduate classes at UNC are slated to begin Monday, August 10. You can read the full update from the university here and learn more about the class options on its Instructional Delivery web page.

Photo via Johnny Andrews/UNC.

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UNC Requests Departments Not ‘Broadly’ Share COVID-19 Cases, Citing Privacy Laws

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