UNC shifts to remote learning 1 week into the semester after coronavirus positive rate spikes

Just one week into the fall semester, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill undergraduate students will once again shift to remote learning, the university announced Monday.

The move comes after four clusters of coronavirus cases broke out among students, and the the university's COVID-19 positivity rate more than quadrupled from 2.8 percent to 13.6 percent last week.

Per The Daily Tar Heel, the student-led campus newspaper, the university is attempting to de-densify on-campus housing. Students will be able to cancel their housing contracts without penalty, while those students who don't have reliable internet access elsewhere, student-athletes, and international students will have the option to remain.

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As things stand, 177 UNC-Chapel Hill students are in isolation and 349 more are in quarantine both on and off campus. Fortunately, the university's chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz said, most students who have tested positive have displayed only mild symptoms.

Graduate, professional, and health affairs schools will continue to teach classes as the individual schools see fit. Read more at The Daily Tar Heel.