Clemson tries to hit moving safety target as COVID-19 cases follow move-in

No one knows for sure why the incidence of the coronavirus in wastewater increased so dramatically at Clemson University in the days after students returned to campus.

Joe Galbraith, vice president for strategic planning, said all students had to have a negative test before being allowed to move in, so it could have been the many visitors who were on campus over the move-in weekend in mid-September.

It’s possible that on-campus students were exposed in downtown bars, suspects David Freedman, chairman of the College of Engineering, Environmental and Earth Science, who is managing the wastewater testing program.

The unexpected results reflect just how hard it is to contain the coronavirus, especially on a college campus with so many avenues to spur an outbreak.

Clemson has tested nearly 19,000 students since they returned in mid-September, and 713 tested positive. By comparison, the University of South Carolina’s main campus in Columbia, with about one-and-a-half times as many students as Clemson, had a little more than 1,000 active coronavirus infections among students two weeks after the majority of students returned to campus in mid-August..

Galbraith said the levels of virus particles detected in wastewater have come down over the past two weeks. The team overseeing the school’s response is continually adjusting its plan to reflect what test results, both of people and wastewater, are saying at any given time. This disease is a moving target, and Clemson, as well as most universities, requires mask wearing, social distance and testing.

One school, the 1,800 student Clark University has set up a station for students to test themselves every three days, according to Politico.

Late last week, the results of testing after Clemson football’s home opener were received. Perhaps not unexpected, the numbers were high, Freedman said, and were lower but still high over the following days.

The wastewater test results released by the university are from the local treatment plants, which include residences off campus that are predominately student housing.

“It jumped very high very fast,” Freedman said. “That rate of spread has something to do with age.”

University officials have not released the results of testing from manholes closer to residence halls.

Galbraith did not respond to a question about why the manhole numbers are not being released.

Meanwhile, the rate of positive tests of students as of Sept. 19 — the last day Clemson has reported — was 5.6%, which puts Clemson in the Centers for Disease Control’s moderate risk category

On Sept. 19, 35 students who had tested positive were in isolation, while 49 students who had been exposed were in quarantine at various locations on campus, Galbraith said.

Galbraith said the team monitoring the incidence of the virus has made some adjustments to their plan since students have returned, including providing tests to students who request it, which adds random samples of 1,000 students per day.

Some professors have pushed back on returning to the classrooms and were able to get the approval of Provost Robert H. Jones to be able to decide on their own whether to meet in person or continue the online courses started in August, the traditional school start.

Clemson elected to wait a month to bring students back to campus.

Faculty Senate President John Whitcomb said in an email, “The faculty are doing a fantastic job of adjusting to classroom set-ups and the blended mode of delivery. I believe like other universities the faculty are discovering new challenges and uncovering the many successes they are having as we move through another phase of this pandemic.”

Whitcomb said he did not know how many professors are teaching exclusively online.

Asked about what specific challenges professors have faced, he said in an email, “The new discoveries have been the many different ways in which courses can be delivered and the high quality of delivery.”

Freedman said he is teaching in-person classes and feels safe, but he is aware others do not.

“The chance of transmission is not zero, but it’s low,” he said.

He said half of the professors in the College of Engineering, Environmental and Earth Science are continuing to teach online.

Galbraith said he has observed a near universal adherence to the school’s mask ordinance, but several organizations are being investigated for violating health and safety rules.

The school issued a statement saying, “Individuals or organizations found in violation of COVID-19 health and safety directives outlined in the Student Code of Conduct in an egregious manner will be subject to interim suspension from the University pending the outcome of an investigation.”

Galbraith said he could not reveal which organizations are being investigated and would not say whether individuals have been cited.

This story was originally published September 28, 2020 at 2:46 PM.