Shaw University briefly suspends in-person classes after COVID-19 outbreak on campus
Shaw University has temporarily moved all classes online after six students and a staff member tested positive for COVID-19, the school said Wednesday.
School spokesman Jeff Tippett said the cases were found through mandatory on-campus testing done last week.
Each person who tested positive is in isolation, and the school is conducting contact tracing, Tippett said. All in-person instruction is suspended through Friday, and all faculty, staff and on-campus students will undergo a second round of mandatory testing for the virus.
Campus spaces that were used by those who have tested positive have been closed for sanitizing, the school said.
“My priority is to keep all the Shaw community as safe as possible,” Shaw President Dr. Paulette Dillard said in a statement. “As always, we remain committed to the health and well-being of our students and our entire campus community and encourage everyone to remain vigilant adhering to the three Ws: wear a mask, wait 6 feet, and wash your hands.”
Before Wednesday’s announcement, Shaw had reported a total of four cases of COVID-19: one employee and three students.
Shaw is a historically Black university in downtown Raleigh with 1,660 students.
Dillard and other leaders of HBCUs in North Carolina have said they would take extra care to try to prevent the spread of COVID-19 on their campuses.
In the early months of the pandemic, Blacks were statistically more likely to contract the virus than whites, and more likely to die from it. Recent data from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services indicates that gap has narrowed, but Blacks still are disproportionately affected by the virus.
Where race is known, Blacks represent 23% of COVID-19 cases in the state and 30% of deaths. According to 2019 census estimates, Blacks make up just over 22% of the state’s population.
This story was originally published October 14, 2020 at 3:15 PM with the headline "Shaw University briefly suspends in-person classes after COVID-19 outbreak on campus."
