UNC is trying to avoid another COVID disaster. The measures might not be enough.
For many people at UNC-Chapel Hill — myself included — the university’s decision to reopen last fall felt like running a red light with no seatbelt on.
We all saw it coming. UNC pretended it didn’t. After just five days of in-person instruction, a surge in COVID-19 cases on campus forced the university to pivot to a remote learning model. Students were sent packing. Professors scrambled to adjust their lesson plans. In that first week, 130 students tested positive for COVID-19.
And it was all preventable.
Now, UNC is giving it another shot, bracing for a full return to campus in just a week. Call it history repeating itself, or maybe just déjà vu, but the situation feels a little too familiar.
Of course, UNC is hoping this year will go smoother than the last. And unlike last year, there are some precautionary measures in place to avoid another disaster. Masks will be required indoors. Students, faculty and staff will be required to submit proof of vaccination or get tested weekly. So far, 84% of students who will be living and learning on campus this semester have attested that they are vaccinated, Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz said at a meeting Wednesday. Not all of those attestations have been verified, though — and given reports of college students buying fake vaccination cards, it might be best to take that number with a grain of salt.
As the start of the semester creeps closer, we should all be questioning whether this year is different enough. Sporting events will be back to normal, stadiums brimming with fans. Classrooms will be at full capacity with limited social distancing measures. Carolina Housing plans to be at 95% capacity, with more than 9,000 students living on campus for the fall semester. There are no gathering limits.
And once again, UNC doesn’t seem to have any sort of contingency plan.
UNC — and, frankly, the entire UNC System — is clinging desperately to a plan made under different circumstances. Months ago, when discussions began, we all thought the pandemic was under control. People were finally getting vaccinated, cases and hospitalizations were declining. A “normal” fall semester made sense.
But things change, sometimes in the blink of an eye. Thanks to the delta variant, which might be more dangerous to young people than the ancestral strain of the virus, we’re once again trending in the wrong direction. In North Carolina, young adults 18 to 24 have the highest case rate of any age group. The number of new cases is increasing at a faster rate than ever before. Hospitalizations are rising, too — just a stone’s throw from campus, there’s a full ICU at UNC Hospitals.
The UNC System has a number of preventative tools at its disposal, many of which it did not have a year ago. Vaccines. The wisdom that one should — theoretically — gain from screwing things up the first time. A better understanding of the virus and how it spreads.
Here’s the problem: it doesn’t seem to be using any of those tools. Unlike some of its peer institutions, the UNC System has chosen not to implement a vaccine mandate, and will instead offer a watered-down version they’re calling “Get Vaccinated or Get Tested Weekly.” That’s not enough.
Already, the virus shows signs of spreading. One cluster has been announced on UNC’s campus, and classes haven’t even begun. As children return to the classroom, COVID-19 clusters have been reported at nine Triangle schools so far. Nevertheless, UNC is plowing ahead, public health guidance be damned. That’s not optimism — it’s foolishness.
“What I’m hearing you say is, ‘Damn the torpedoes. Full speed ahead. Everything’s going to be fine,’” Sue Estroff, a professor at the UNC School of Medicine, said at a special meeting of the Faculty Executive Committee last week.
Last year was a disaster because UNC severely misjudged the dangers of reopening. This year, though, it’s a different story: the dangers are clearer, but UNC doesn’t seem to be taking them seriously.
It’s time to buckle up, because here we go again.
This story was originally published August 12, 2021 at 4:30 AM.
