Which Triangle colleges have COVID cases? Outbreaks? Here’s how to track them.

As college students return to campuses across the Triangle, students and their families as well as faculty and staff are cautiously keeping an eye on how the coronavirus pandemic affects them.

While some Triangle universities, such as Duke and Shaw, are requiring students to get vaccinated, most do not have vaccination mandates.

Other schools require proof of vaccination and regular surveillance testing. Most schools will require masks.

Still, despite precautions, there are concerns about coronavirus outbreaks and clusters, particularly as the more contagious delta variant spreads. And there are flashbacks to last fall, when campuses shut down and students were sent home shortly after school began.

The best way to keep track of university COVID-19 cases is through their dashboards. Here is where they will report an array of data, including cases and positivity rates as well as, in some cases, the number of people in quarantine.

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Dashboard: carolinatogether.unc.edu/dashboard

UNC-Chapel Hill’s Carolina Together COVID-19 dashboard is updated Monday through Friday. The university reported 93 total COVID-19 cases as of Friday evening, with 63 among students and the other 30 among employees.

Throughout the month of August, UNC’s positivity rate has been 2.46%, with 45 positive tests out of 1,831 tests performed as of Friday.

There are currently no students in quarantine or isolation on campus per the dashboard, and there are no active housing clusters to report. Previously reported housing cluster locations are no longer in cluster status.

UNC is no longer using the Alert Carolina Emergency Notification system to notify the community of clusters. That information will now be exclusively shared on the Carolina Together website and on university social media accounts.

“This change in our communications in no way diminishes the University’s sense of urgency in ensuring that this information is shared in a timely, transparent and accessible fashion,” reads the Carolina Together website. “The Alert Carolina Emergency Notification system is meant to communicate the most critical and urgent information for the safety of the campus, and we are following best practices in its use.”

A cluster was most reported Wednesday related to an event in the Eshelman School of Pharmacy.

UNC “strongly [urges]” members of the community to get vaccinated. Those who do not will be tested weekly, and unvaccinated students will also have to participate in entry testing.

“Members of the Carolina community are expected to refrain from asking others for their personal health information, such as vaccination status,” reads the Carolina Together website. “While receiving a COVID-19 vaccination remains the very best way to protect yourself on campus, vaccination is not a University mandate.”

Face masks are required indoors — with few exceptions, such as when eating or drinking and when in one’s assigned residence hall room or apartment — but only encouraged outdoors.

Duke University

Dashboard: coronavirus.duke.edu/covid-testing

Duke’s COVID-19 testing tracker is updated every Monday afternoon. During the week of Aug. 2 to 8, Duke reported 22 positive cases — 11 among students and 11 among faculty and staff—and a positivity rate of 0.44%.

From May 3 to Aug. 1, there were 39 positive tests out of 55,228 performed, for a positivity rate of 0.07%, per the dashboard.

Duke is requiring all students, faculty and staff to wear masks indoors except in residence halls, regardless of vaccination status. Durham County’s indoor mask mandate went into effect Monday, Aug. 9.

Vaccines are required for Duke students, faculty and staff unless one presents a medical or religious exemption but will have to perform daily symptom monitoring, surveillance testing twice a week and other protocols if granted one.

North Carolina State University

Dashboard: ncsu.edu/coronavirus/testing-and-tracking/

The NC State COVID-19 dashboard is updated daily Monday through Friday. There have been 82 active cases since Aug. 2, and the university has reported 1,834 positive cases since Jan. 1 with an overall positivity rate of 0.69%. There were 18 new cases reported Wednesday, five of which were among employees and the other 13 of which were among students.

As of Wednesday, the seven-day average is 9.429 new cases per day. Four individuals were reported to be in quarantine on Wednesday and one in isolation on campus, compared to the 76 in off-campus quarantine and 47 in isolation off campus.

Beginning Monday, Aug. 16, all students, faculty and staff who will be on campus must provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination or they will be required to participate in weekly surveillance testing on campus. Vaccines are “highly encouraged.”

Face coverings are required in indoor spaces for everyone regardless of vaccination status, with few exceptions such as when eating or drinking or when alone in a dorm or office.

North Carolina Central University

Dashboard: nccu.edu/coronavirus/confirmed-cases-covid-19-nccu

From July 2 to Aug. 13, NCCU reported 24 cases of COVID-19 among students and 13 among employees. No cases were reported among subcontractors. The chart is updated each Monday.

From Jan. 1 to July 1, NCCU reported 154 cases among students, 46 among faculties and 11 among contractors.

Face coverings are not required for fully vaccinated members of the community in non-instructional spaces, such as offices, cafeterias and outdoors. Students in residential housing must wear masks in lobbies, hallways and elevators but do not have to wear masks in their residence hall rooms. Those who are unvaccinated should continue to wear face coverings “when in close contact with others regardless of the setting.”

Fully vaccinated students will be tested twice per week; unvaccinated students will be subject to increased testing based on the campus positivity rate but not less than once per week. NCCU will provide onsite COVID-19 testing to faculty and staff who experience an occupational exposure.

Students and employees must fill out a daily health survey each day.

Meredith College

Dashboard: meredith.edu/staying-strong/covid-19-notifications

Meredith’s dashboard is updated daily Monday through Friday by 5 p.m., and weekend cases are added by 9 a.m. the following Monday.

As of Friday, there is one active COVID-19 case among employees and one among students, the only confirmed positive cases since Aug. 1. Both are currently in isolation, per the dashboard.

From March 2020 to July 2021, three visitors, 15 employees and 81 students tested positive.

Meredith “continues to strongly encourage” students and employees to get vaccinated; 73.4% of employees and 58.8% of students are vaccinated as of Friday, according to the dashboard. Students and employees are required to present proof of vaccination or a negative PCR test before coming to campus for the first time in the fall, and students “may be required” to participate in routine COVID-19 testing.

Face coverings will be required “when in indoor common or public areas” and in some large outdoor gatherings.

Shaw University

Dashboard: shawu.edu/covid-19/

Shaw University’s COVID-19 dashboard is updated on Mondays.

As of Aug. 8, no cases had been reported among employees, or staff. The total confirmed cases since Jan. 1, 2021 is 3 among employees; 17 among students; and zero among subcontractors.

The university is requiring new and returning students to show proof of vaccination before enrolling. Documented medical and religious exemptions will be accommodated. The university has not indicated the number of people who are vaccinated on its dashboard.

Students also are being asked to provide a negative COVID-19 test result before moving on campus. There will be several isolation and quarantine rooms set aside for students living in on-campus housing.

St. Augustine’s University

Dashboard: st-aug.edu/coronavirus-dashboard/

The dashboard will be updated daily by 10 a.m. Since the start of the spring semester, there were 38 student cases and 5 employee cases. In the last 10 days, there have been 2 student cases.

There have been 1,835 tests completed with a positivity rate of 2.05%.

The university is requiring all students, faculty and staff — full-time and part-time — to be vaccinated. There will be exemptions for medical and religious reasons.

William Peace University

Dashboard: covid.peace.edu/covid-19-case-alert-protocol/

The dashboard will be updated daily by 5 p.m. Weekend cases will be added on Mondays. No cases have been reported.

The administration urges students to wear a mask “when appropriate on campus and around Raleigh.” The City of Raleigh reinstated a mask mandate for all public buildings as of Aug. 13.

While North Carolina no longer has capacity limits or restrictions on gathering sizes, the university is limiting indoor gatherings to 25 people or less with proper social distancing and mask wearing, according to the school website. Outdoor gatherings will be limited to 50 participants.

This story was originally published August 16, 2021 at 5:55 AM with the headline "Which Triangle colleges have COVID cases? Outbreaks? Here’s how to track them.."