U of M reports 15 active cases of COVID-19 among students
The University of Memphis is reporting 15 active cases of COVID-19 among its students on campus, a spokesperson confirmed Friday. There are also 36 active cases among employees, for a total of 51 active cases, said spokesperson Chuck Gallina.
The university is wrapping up its second week of the fall semester, which began virtually for most students on Aug. 17. Of the 22,515 students currently enrolled, about 500 have had the option to go in-person to class in the last two weeks, Gallina said. The university “may move to the next phase soon,” Gallina said via email.
After going virtual last spring, U of M’s campus remained open in part for students who could not return home. Officials have said 700 students stayed on campus during the pandemic before the fall semester and no COVID-19 cases were associated with those students.
Now, 1,815 students are staying on campus, and 20 of the 85 quarantine rooms are occupied, according to a university report. U of M maintains that none of the COVID-19 cases have been contracted on campus, according to the report.
There have been 127 cases of COVID-19 reported among students since
April, the report shows. Among staff, there have been a total of 100 “exposures” to COVID-19. It is unclear if exposures indicate close contacts of a case, reported cases, or both.
At least four of the reported cases have been related to campus athletics.
University president M. David Rudd announced in late July that the school year would begin virtually, with limited face-to-face coursework for students in laboratories, clinical training, engineering and performing arts classes.
Every 30 days, Rudd said, the university will evaluate a “host of data” to inform forward decisions. At the first evaluation in September, return to campus would be voluntary at that time if it is deemed safe to do, Rudd said.
“The latest available data indicates unacceptable risk in Shelby County and Memphis for an immediate transition to a dense campus environment,” Rudd wrote in an email sent to campus at the time. “At this point this is clearly the only right decision,” Tom Nenon, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, said at the time. “We’ve said from the outset that the safety of all the members of our university community is our highest priority, and we were not going to do anything that would be endangering their safety.” Thursday, United Campus Workers, the union for Tennessee college and university employees, asked for the campuses across the state to move to online classes and provide hazard pay for frontline employees.
COVID-19 cases among students and staff have been reported across the country as campuses reopened this fall, amounting to changes in classroom and school procedure in some instances.
Across the state at University of Tennessee at Knoxville, the university reported 150 active cases as of Aug. 27. Of those, 144 cases are students and six are employees. There are also 734 people in self-isolation, most of them students who live off campus.
Knoxville News Sentinel reporter Monica Kast contributed.
Laura Testino covers education and children’s issues for the Commercial Appeal. Reach her at laura.testino@ commercialappeal.com or 901-512-3763. Find her on Twitter: @Ldtestino