More than 40 Clemson employees tested positive for COVID-19, school says
Clemson is requiring all employees and students to secure a negative COVID-19 test before they are allowed back on campus, and the university released its first results from testing Friday afternoon.
Clemson conducted more 2,300 tests on employees, who are expected to report to work on Aug. 1. So far the university has received results from 1,952 tests, with 41 of the tests being positive. That equals out to a little more than 2 percent.
The tests were conducted July 20-22 and July 27-28.
Employees who test positive must isolate at home immediately and avoid contact with others, follow directions from their healthcare provider and contact the Joseph F. Sullivan Center, which is an interdisciplinary health center at Clemson University.
Clemson added that results for the remaining individuals who were tested will be shared when they are available.
Clemson announced last week that it is delaying in-person instruction for the fall semester.
The semester is still scheduled to begin Aug. 19, but classes will be virtual. The university is hoping to begin in-person classes Sept. 21.
“We’re going to start on time. We’re just going to start online for a few weeks,” Clemson president Jim Clements said. “The virus is running pretty strong down here and the hospitals are running pretty close to capacity.”
Clements added that there could have been several thousand cases of the virus on campus were held in-person at the start of the semester. The university is hopeful cases will dip and it will be safe to have in-person classes by mid-September.
“We believe that by delaying the resumption of on-campus activities for another four weeks, and by strictly following the recommended health precautions, the disease will be reduced to a point where we can safely return to something approximating a normal learning environment,” Clements said. “We also will use the time to execute a previously announced plan to test all our students in order to provide a better means to predict infection rates in our community.”
This story was originally published July 31, 2020 at 3:38 PM.
