The University of Notre Dame will resume in-person classes beginning Sept. 2 after pausing them due to a coronavirus cluster.
“We believe we can plan to return to in-person classes, and return in stages, to the level of activity we had before the pause,” said Rev. John Jenkins, president of Notre Dame.
On Aug. 18, Jenkins announced that the university would suspend all in-person learning in response to a COVID-19 outbreak that is believed to be linked to an off-campus party. New cases on campus had risen over two days from 52 to 147, and the positivity rate among students and faculty was 19.1%.
“Since my announcement, the daily number of new cases has gone down substantially,” Jenkins said. The positivity rate is now 10.8%.
Jenkins urged students and faculty to commit to wearing masks, maintaining physical distance, and washing hands. He also asked that students refrain from participating in social gatherings of more than 10 people.
Notre Dame was one of the first large universities to aim to return students to the campus for fall. “We believe the good of educating students and continuing vital research is very much worth the remaining risk,” Jenkins wrote in a May op-ed.