It's worth mentioning that this swift action would not have occurred without the involvement of student journalists demanding to know what was really going on as the University of North Carolina reopened.
Source: NBC News
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill announced Monday it was converting to virtual classes after reporting 135 new COVID-19 cases and four clusters within a week of starting classes for the fall semester — an outcome many critics feared as the university decided to reopen its campus.
“After consultation with state and local health officials, #UNC’s infectious disease experts and the UNC system, Carolina is making two changes to de-densify campus,” the school announced on Twitter Monday afternoon. “On Wednesday, Aug. 19, all undergraduate instruction will shift to remote learning.”
The shift was announced within an hour of the updated case counts being added on the school’s CV-19 dashboard, which tracks metrics like tests conducted, positive cases, and isolation and quarantine capacity.
The dashboard shows 135 new positive COVID-19 cases — 130 students and fives employees — for the week of Aug. 10 to Aug. 16.
UNC's tweet.
After consultation with state and local health officials, #UNC’s infectious disease experts and the @UNC_System, Carolina is making two changes to de-densify campus. First: On Wednesday, Aug. 19, all undergraduate instruction will shift to remote learning https://t.co/BaKlNB6jEr
— UNC-Chapel Hill (@UNC) August 17, 2020
The student newspaper's headline.
In today’s @dailytarheel: pic.twitter.com/XnszDD5aU5
— Paige Masten (@paigemasten) August 17, 2020
Wow. The @dailytarheel worked tirelessly to document what was happening at UNC-Chapel Hill as students got sick. Student journalists are SO important now as college reopen because not only do students know exactly what’s going on on their campus, they’re also tenacious reporters. pic.twitter.com/Xni0wzpEMZ
— Chelsea Cirruzzo ⚡️ (@ChelseaCirruzzo) August 17, 2020
Major kudos to those at @dailytarheel who have been all over this story. And no doubt will stay on top of it as the university now sends students who have been in or near covid clusters back home. https://t.co/Q7htKQmAny
— Matt Viser (@mviser) August 17, 2020
