NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The University of Notre Dame will be going to virtual classes only for the next two weeks.
University president Fr. John Jenkins made the announcement late Tuesday afternoon. Students can venture out of their dorm rooms if they live on-campus, but Jenkins said residence halls are restricted to residents only and that public gathering on campus can now only be as many as 10 people.
“Off-campus students should remain in their residences off-campus,” Jenkins said. “Associate with housemates only and not come to campus for this period. “We’ve seen a dramatic increase in the number of positive cases in COVID-19 in our first weeks back on campus.”
“Our contact-tracing analysis indicates that most infections are coming from off-campus gatherings,” Jenkins added. “Students infected at those gathering passed it on to others, who in turn have passed the virus on to others, resulting in the positive cases we have seen.”
Jenkins said the two-week hiatus on in-person classes comes as the university has seen 147 students test positive for the coronavirus since students returned to school earlier this month. Those 147 tested positive, out of an additional 927 tests that have been administered since Aug. 3. He said the spike in cases is serious and steps must be taken to address it.
The restrictions will not apply to Notre Dame’s athletic programs.
