UNC becomes latest school to reverse reopening
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is the latest American university to reverse plans to reopen after coronavirus cases there shot up dramatically just a week into the new semester.
The news comes during nationwide debate over how to safely resume schooling during the pandemic.
UNC's decision comes after the COVID-19 infection rate shot up to nearly 14 percent at the campus clinic.
The university chancellor said in a letter to students that classes would be held online going forward, along with academic support services.
Other colleges, including the University of Southern California, have also started the fall semester with all their classes online.
And with waves of infections still emerging across the U.S., many elementary, secondary, high schools and colleges set to start this month or next have imposed "remote learning".
An Arizona school district canceled its plans to reopen schools Monday (August 18) after a number of teachers called in sick.
And a Nebraska school district said Saturday it had canceled classes after several staff members tested positive and over a dozen more were in quarantine for exposure.
Nationwide, new cases of COVID-19 fell for a fourth week in a row but infections remain at high levels in many states.
More than 30 states have test positivity rates of over 5% -- while Mississippi, Nevada, Florida and Idaho are over 16%.
In total, over 170,000 Americans have died from the disease.
