N.C. A&T, UNCG, Wake Forest University and Appalachian State are among the schools adjusting to a different approach to COVID-19 this fall.
Many colleges and universities have discontinued their online COVID-19 dashboards, which displayed the number of active cases among students, staff and faculty.
“Due to changes in testing, reporting, contact tracing and the reduced severity of the disease among a highly-vaccinated community, the number of positive cases is no longer a useful indicator of the overall health of our campus,” said Cheryl Walker, a spokeswoman for Wake Forest. “The dashboard previously served as a tool when we were managing a crisis.”
Walker said that as COVID-19 becomes endemic, the university is providing care and support while continuing to monitor cases. Wake Forest sent a message in early August to students, faculty, staff and families about new COVID-19 protocols for fall, which are also posted online.
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Current COVID-19 guidance from infectious disease experts and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is similar to the mitigation strategy for seasonal flu, Walker said. As a result, the university is encouraging students to continue to take measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and flu, including remaining current on vaccinations, she said.
UNCG also is among the schools that discontinued its COVID-19 dashboard. The university has outlined its latest protocols online at covid.uncg.edu/.
“Our infection rate is similar to what we see in the larger Guilford County community, and we are well within our resource capacities on campus to assist those who test positive,” Richard Campbell, a vice chancellor for strategic communications, said in an email.
Campbell said UNCG is following CDC guidelines and continues to stay in close contact with local and state health officials.
UNCG had not responded by press time to the News & Record’s request for the number of reported COVID-19 cases on campus.
At A&T, the school was well prepared to respond to COVID-19 as students returned to campus, according to Padonda Webb, executive director of the university’s student health center.“Going into this fall semester, we knew that it would not take long for COVID-19 rates to begin to increase because of how contagious the omicron BA.5 subvariant has proven to be,” Webb said. “We were one of very few UNC System schools requiring reentry testing, but we wanted to be sure that we went into the semester feeling good about bringing students back into the residence halls and on campus. By Week 2 of school, we were seeing positivity rates of around 20%.”
The university continues to offer free testing to its faculty, staff and students, Webb said, and is recommending testing only if someone is experiencing symptoms.
From the time new students began moving into dorms on Aug. 12 until Wednesday, A&T has identified 443 cases of COVID-19, according to Dr. Robert Doolittle, medical director of the student health center.
He explained that the total number includes faculty, staff and students — both in campus and private housing. More than 99% of the testing was done in the health center on campus, Doolittle said, with a small number of positive home test results reported to them.
“Our wastewater analysis has identified virus in all 11 campus housing sites that are sampled, but no clusters of cases in specific dorms from interdorm transmission have been identified,” Doolittle said.
At Appalachian State, spokeswoman Anna Oakes said the university also no longer publishes a COVID-19 dashboard. The school did not provide the number of cases on campus as of press time, instead saying that university data is included in the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services report for Watauga and surrounding counties.
As for COVID-19 protocols, Oakes said students and employees who test positive for the coronavirus are directed to stay home for at least five days, isolate from others and follow CDC guidance.
Students living in residence halls are strongly encouraged to go home, but may choose to isolate in their rooms if unable to return, Oakes said.
It’s unclear how many college students in the region have tested positive for COVID-19 after returning to campus. A spokesperson for the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services said Wednesday in an email that is it recommended, but not required, for college and universities to report clusters in non-congregate living settings.
“Currently in Guilford County we don’t have any clusters reported from any campus,” Kenya Smith Godette, a communications manager for the Guilford County Health Department, said in an email Tuesday afternoon.
Godette said a cluster is defined as five or more cases that are linked, or 15 or more cases in any one location such as a school/class setting.
Patricia Williams, a family nurse practitioner at Novant Health Yadkin Medical Associates, said COVID-19 is still very much an issue for college-age students.
“We are beginning to see another rise in the occurrences among schools and colleges with the start of the school year,” Williams said. “Due to the rise, we need to refocus our efforts of prevention and protection.”
Doolittle said that despite the recent surge of cases, the outcomes of recent COVID-19 infections have been better this fall as the overwhelming majority of A&T’s faculty, staff and students are vaccinated.
Wake Forest’s Walker said the good news is that colleges and universities now know how to navigate COVID-19.
“Each of us has experienced the pandemic in unique and similar ways for more than two years,” she said. “As a campus community, the strategies we have used during this period have been very effective, and with continued teamwork and partnerships, we will keep the health of our campus at the center.”