NIU to resume in-person classes Monday

University cites drop in parties, COVID-19 cases

Northern Illinois University in DeKalb will restart in-person courses Monday after a two-week shift to remote learning saw a drop in COVID-19 cases among students and showed that no infections stemmed fromthe classroom.

NIU President Lisa Freeman announced the resumption in an email message to students and faculty Friday. Freeman said the break allowed NIU to identify exposed students through surveillance testing and immediately quarantine them.

“Outside of this now-isolated population, our overall positivity rate has gone down,” Freeman wrote. “We also have seen a notable decrease in parties and social gatherings. These results show us that the vast majority of you are taking this situation seriously, and I am grateful.”

NIU switched to remote learning on Sept. 11 and asked undergraduates living nearby and campus residents to limit in-person and social interactions.

More than 70 students tested positive forCOVID-19 onSept. 8, but the case count has dropped to single digits on most days since then, according to the school’s dashboard.

NIU joins other universities that have reinstated face-to-face instruction after seeing infections spike on campus and taking preventive action.

On Wednesday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker warned the northwest region of the state, which includes NIU, could face a clampdown as the nine-county area’s positivity rate grew to 7.5%. Freeman said parties at the university are banned and social gatherings must be capped at 10 people. Everyone interacting must wear masks and maintain physical distance.

NIU’swebsite says it’s offering “a mix of fully online, face-to-face and hybrid courses” this fall.