Notre Dame, North Carolina Cancel In-Person Classes After Coronavirus Cases Spike

The push to reopen school's despite the continuing threat from COVID-19 took a huge hit Tuesday when the University of Notre Dame joined the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in cancelling in-class instruction just one week into the new school year.

On Tuesday, Notre Dame announced a two-week-long suspension of in-person instruction effective Wednesday after 146 students and a staff member tested positive for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. The South Bend, Ind., school has a student population of 12,000.

“The virus is a formidable foe,” said Notre Dame president Father John Jenkins. “For the past week, it has been winning. Let us as the Fighting Irish join together to contain it.”

The university revealed that since Aug. 3, 927 people were tested for the virus. Of this number, 147 (or 16%) have returned positive results. It said most of the students who contracted the disease are living off-campus. Some students were infected at off-campus gatherings where social distancing rules weren't followed and masks weren’t worn.

On Monday, UNC canceled in-class instruction after 135 new cases (130 students, five staff members) were reported in the first week. The school's COVID-19 positivity rate (the percentage of those tested who had infections) ballooned to 13.6% from 2.8%, said Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz.

“So far, we have been fortunate that most students who have tested positive have demonstrated mild symptoms,” Guskiewicz said.

UNC's decision to open on Aug. 11 was assailed by one of the student organizations. The school administration’s "carelessness and dereliction of duty" had caused the outbreaks, said Lamar Richards, a student chairperson on the Commission on Campus Equality and Student Equity at UNC.

"Many students, graduate workers, staff, some faculty members and even the local county health department warned that this was going to happen," said Richards in a letter to students.

The wave of school closings is growing throughout the country, but not all of it is because of COVID-19 infections. On Monday, disaffected teachers at a school district in Arizona staged a "sick out" to protest the school reopenings, forcing the district to cancel its plan to open schools.

"We have received an overwhelming response from staff indicating that they do not feel safe returning to classrooms with students,"said Gregory Wyman, superintendent of the J.O. Combs Unified School District. "In response, we have received a high volume of staff absences for Monday citing health and safety concerns."

All classes, including virtual learning, will be canceled, he said. Classes will remain canceled while the district strives "to find solutions to the polarizing and challenging issues currently facing school districts throughout the state and country."

A third high school in Cherokee County, Ga., has closed for in-person classes due to an increase in the number of positive cases. Nearly a third of students are in quarantine as a result. In-person classes will remain suspended until Aug. 31.

A Nebraska school district canceled classes for this week after three staff members tested positive and 24 more entered voluntary quarantine.