CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — A day after announcing class cancellations to allow for students to transition to online classes, UNC-Chapel Hill officials reported three new COVID-19 clusters in residence halls on campus. Update: At 5:35 p.m., UNC-CH officials released a statement that reported an additional cluster of COVID-19 cases at Carmichael residence hall.
A coronavirus cluster is five or more cases within a designated area, state health officials said.
UNC-CH officials said there are 102 positive COVID-19 cases at Granville Towers, 16 at Ehringhaus, and 17 at Hinton James residence halls. Eighty-eight of the new cases reported were students, with one staff member testing positive as well, WNCN reported.
Students who have tested positive are isolating to prevent further spread, campus officials said. Before leaving the university's campus, UNC-CH officials are asking students to take a coronavirus test to prevent further spreading elsewhere.
Testing will be available on UNC-CH’s campus Aug. 21-23, WCNC reported.
On Monday, UNC-CH announced the suspension of all undergraduate instruction to switch to remote learning effective Wednesday.
It comes after several clusters were reported associated with the university in the span of a week.
Yesterday, the university canceled classes next Monday and Tuesday to “allow students to catch their breath and make the transition to remote learning," according to a release from the university website.