Notre Dame set up an extensive testing system as part of its efforts to bring students back on campus in South Bend, Ind.
Photo: Robert Franklin/South Bend Tribune/Associated PressThe University of Notre Dame and Michigan State University on Tuesday both announced moves designed to slow the spread of the coronavirus on their campuses.
Notre Dame is canceling in-person classes and moving them online for at least two weeks after seeing a surge in coronavirus cases. On Monday, one week after classes began, 80 students tested positive out of 418, or 19% of students tested.
The rash of cases has been linked to at least two off-campus parties, and the majority of students testing positive are senior undergraduates, mostly male, said school spokesman Paul Browne.
“The virus is a formidable foe. For the past week, it has been winning,” said Notre Dame President Rev. John Jenkins during a public address on Tuesday. “The objective of these temporary restrictions is to contain the spread of the virus so that we can get back to in-person instruction.”
If the outbreak isn’t contained within the next two weeks, the school will have to send students home to learn remotely, similar to the campus closure that happened last spring, he added.
Michigan State University President Samuel L. Stanley asked students who were planning to move into school’s dormitories to stay home.
“Given the current status of the virus in our country—particularly what we are seeing at other institutions as they re-populate their campus communities—it has become evident to me that, despite our best efforts and strong planning, it is unlikely we can prevent widespread transmission of COVID-19 between students if our undergraduates return to campus,” President Stanley wrote.
Notre Dame set up an extensive testing system as part of its efforts to bring students back on campus. All of the nearly 12,000 students were tested before they returned to campus to start class on Aug. 10. Of that group just 33 students (0.28%) tested positive.
Since their return to campus, the rate of positive tests has climbed as the school has concentrated on testing students with symptoms of the virus. Through Monday, 927 students had been tested and 147 were positive, or nearly 16%.
Over the next two weeks residence halls will be restricted to students who live there, public spaces will be closed, and the maximum size of gatherings will decrease to 10 people from 20. Students could be removed from campus for disobeying rules, President Jenkins said. The school will also increase surveillance testing of students who don’t have symptoms to better gauge the spread of the virus.
The school has stockpiled 10,000 gallons of hand sanitizer and posted 50,000 signs reminding students to wash their hands.
Also on Tuesday, Ithaca College reversed course and decided not to bring students back to campus. And Carnegie Mellon University announced it will start undergraduate classes remotely for the first week.
On Monday the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill announced it will shift all undergraduate courses for the fall to remote instruction after 135 cases of Covid-19 were traced to people on and off campus since starting classes last week.
—Melissa Korn contributed to this article.
Write to Douglas Belkin at doug.belkin@wsj.com
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