The University of Notre Dame is shifting its classes online for a two-week period in response to a spike of COVID-19 cases on campus since classes started a week ago.
The Rev. John Jenkins, Notre Dame's president, announced the change in a livestreamed video for students Tuesday afternoon. It came after cases on campus jumped from 58 to 147 in just one day.
"We have decided to take steps short of sending students home, at least for the time being, while protecting the health and safety of the campus community," Jenkins said. "For at least the next two weeks, we will move undergraduate classes to remote instruction, close public spaces on campus and restrict residences halls to residents only."
Jenkins said the school, located in South Bend, Indiana, was prepared to send students home altogether but decided to try enacting a stricter trial period after consulting with the county's public health department, which endorsed the move.
Notre Dame spokesman Paul Browne said students are expected to remain in their residences and take classes virtually for the time being.
"Traveling to various points across the country and back again is not helpful," he said.
While classes are remote, students living off campus should stay there, limit interactions to roommates only and refrain from visiting campus, according to Jenkins. Gatherings larger than 10 people will also be prohibited.
"The objective of these temporary restrictions is to tame the spread of the virus so we can get back to in-person instruction," Jenkins said. "If these steps are not successful, we will have to send students home, as we did last spring."
Tuesday's one-day increase marked the largest surge in cases since students returned to campus Aug. 3. At that point, only 33 of about 12,000 students had tested positive when they were assessed prior to arriving.
But after the first weeks on campus, the challenges became clearer. On Sunday, Notre Dame announced it was enhancing its testing procedures and planned to carry out surveillance testing of the general student population, in addition to athletes. The school also said it would improve the process for students with symptoms or known exposures to get tested on campus.
In that message, Notre Dame officials said the majority of cases _ at that time, it was about 50 cases _ appeared to stem from two off-campus events held Aug. 6 and Aug. 9.
"Our contact tracing reveals that there is a ring clearly associated with those who attended each of these off-campus events," the message said. "Secondary rings have now occurred among those in close contact with those in the first ring."
The university has also provided students who test positive with spaces where they can isolate by placing them in a hotel on campus or at privately owned apartments nearby.
Most classes at Notre Dame had been scheduled to proceed in person _ a contrast from many colleges that decided to start the year fully remotely.
Jenkins warned that students could be sent home if campus metrics don't improve.
