The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
At least 6,600 virus cases linked to colleges
Schools weighing financial, academic and health concerns.
As college students and professors decide whether to head back to class, and as universities weigh how and whether to reopen, the coronavirus is already on campus.
A New York Times survey of every public fouryear college in the country, as well as every private institution that com
petes in Division I sports or is a member of an elite group of research universities, revealed at least 6,600 cases tied to about 270 colleges over the course of the pandemic. And the new academic year has not even begun at most schools.
Outbreaks have emerged on Greek Row this summer at the University of Wash
ington, where at least 136 residents were infected, and at Harris-Stowe State University in St. Louis, where administrators were reeval- uating their plans for fall
after eight administrative workers tested positive.
The virus has turned up in a science building at Western Carolina, on the football team at Clemson and among employees at the University of Denver.
At Appalachian State in North Carolina, at least 41
construction workers have tested positive while work- ing on campus buildings. The Times has identified at least 14 coronavirus-related deaths at colleges.
There is no standardized reporting method for coronavirus cases and deaths at colleges, and the information is not being publicly tracked at a national level. Of nearly 1,000 institutions contacted by the newspaper, some had already posted case information online, some provided full or partial numbers and others refused to answer basic questions, citing privacy
concerns. Hundreds of col- leges did not respond at all.
Coronavirus infections on campuses might go unno- ticed if not for reporting by academic institutions themselves because they do not always show up in official tallies, which generally exclude people who have permanent addresses elsewhere, as students often do.
The survey included fouryear public schools in the United States, those that are members of the Asso- ciation of American Universities and those that com- pete at the highest level of college sports. It has not yet expanded to include hundreds of other institutions, including most private schools and community colleges.
Among the colleges that provided information, many offered no details about who
contracted the virus, when they became ill or whether a case was connected to a larger outbreak.
Some institutions, like the California State Univer- sity system, have moved most fall classes online.
Others, including those in the Patriot League and Ivy League, have decided to not
hold fall sports. But many institutions still plan to wel- come freshmen to campus in the coming days, to hold in-person classes and to host sporting events.
The University of Georgia has announced plans for in-person classes despite rising deaths from the virus in the state. The university has recorded at least 390 infections involving students, faculty and staff.
O’Bryan Moore, a senior at the school, said he was worried about the safety of his classmates and teachers. He said he was skep
tical that students would widely follow guidelines to wear masks once they return in August.
“There is no way I can see this ending without outbreaks on campus,” said Moore, who is studying to become a park ranger.
Moore said online classes have not been as effective as in-person classes, but he still hoped the university would change its plans for students to return to campus.
“I think we should remain online for this semester, even if it’ll hurt my education,” he said. “Because it’s the right thing to do.”
Case numbers may be larger at some universities with tens of thousands of students, including Central Florida and the University of Texas at Austin, and at others in which many university employees work in hospitals where coronavirus patients have been treated, including at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
As universities make plans for the fall semester, administrators have had to weigh shifting public health guidance and financial and academic concerns, as well as
the difficult reality that some students and faculty members are likely to test positive no matter how classes are held.
“There is simply no way to completely eliminate risk, whether we are in-person or online,” Martha E. Pollack,
the president of Cornell, wrote in a letter explaining the decision to bring students back to campus.
‘There is no way I can see this ending without outbreaks on campus ... I think we should remain online for this semester, even if it’ll hurt my education, because it’s the right thing to do.’
O’Bryan Moore, UGA senior