UNC has recorded more than 1,000 positive COVID-19 cases among its campus community since the start of the pandemic.

According to data from the Carolina Together COVID-19 Dashboard on Friday, 26 cases reported on Thursday caused the university’s total surpass the benchmark. The majority of cases are attributed to students: the university reports its had 971 students and 54 employees test positive for the coronavirus since February.

Orange County also surpassed a benchmark in coronavirus cases this week, having recorded its 2,000th positive test on Tuesday. Positive cases from the university have led to sharp increases in cases the last few weeks, according to county officials, and the Orange County Health Department has held recent testing events in Chapel Hill as a result.

UNC moved back to a remote instruction model for its fall semester after holding fewer than two weeks of classes in-person, a decision caused by the amount of positive cases returned in the first week. Since then, clusters of cases have been reported at several residence halls and Greek life houses. The university required many students to cancel on-campus housing contracts by this week in order to lower occupancy. As of Friday, 13 percent of on-campus dorm rooms are occupied, while just more than 9 percent of Granville Towers’ rooms are full.

The Cobb Residence Hall community is the latest to report a cluster of positive COVID-19 cases, with UNC alerting the community of it on Thursday. According to the UNC Dashboard, Cobb has five total cases.

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