THURSDAY September 10, 2020
THE DAILY ILLINI
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Vol. 150 Issue 6
University rearranges campus testing schedule tested three times a week “if we believe you might have a higher risk of recent exposure,” the Massmail stated. The Massmail was sent by Mike DeLorenzo, Senior Associate Chancellor for Administration and Operations Chair and COVID-19 Executive Steering Committee on Return to On-Campus Operations and Matthew Tomaszewski, Executive Associate Provost for Capital Planning Vice Chair and COVID-19 Executive Steering Committee on Return to On-Campus Operations. Staff, faculty and graduate
BY SAMANTHA BOYLE MANAGING EDITOR FOR REPORTING
All staff, faculty and graduate students are no longer required to get tested for COVID-19 twice a week and instead have been moved to a once weekly testing schedule, the University announced in a Massmail Monday. The changes come after the University found that more than 95% of all new cases were among undergraduate students. Therefore, undergraduate students are still required to be tested twice a week and some undergraduates may be directly contacted to be
SEE CHANGES | 3A
RYAN ASH THE DAILY ILLINI
Students party in the driveway of a house located on First Street on Aug. 28. Some on campus residents received court notices due to breaking social distancing measures.
Students receive court notices for parties BY SAMANTHA BOYLE MANAGING EDITOR FOR REPORTING
On Aug. 28, police officers witnessed a loud party at the offender’s residence in the 100 block of East John Street. According to the police report, party
attendees were not socially distanced nor were they wearing face masks. More than 10 people were also present. The offender was issued three city of Champaign notices to appear in court on Thursday on the charges of hosting a nui-
sance party, reckless conduct and endangering public health. Another student was also issued three city of Champaign notices on the same charges after he was identified as a leaseholder and attendee of a large party
in the 900 block of South First Street, according to the police report. The party was hosted on Aug. 28 and the offender was issued the KENYON EDMOND THE DAILY ILLINI notices on Thursday. Two people walk on a pathway through the Main Quad as a
University coronavirus testing site sits behind them outside of Foellinger Auditorium. Faculty, staff and graduate students have been moved to a weekly testing schedule.
sjboyle2@dailyillini.com
KENYON EDMOND THE DAILY ILLINI
A group of students plays a game of spikeball on the Main Quad on Aug. 21. Illinois issued a two-week stay-at-homeorder last week.
COVID-19 clusters in Greek, private housing Unmonitored indoor gatherings cause majority of outbreaks BY HEATHER ROBINSON ASSISTANT DAYTIME NEWS EDITOR
With one fraternity, Pi Kappa Phi, already suspended for hosting a social event well over the 10-person limit, fraternities and sororities have been the center of discussion of how to contain the spread on campus. Last week, the University announced a two-week stay-at-home-order to be implemented and it was revealed that over 100 students were under investigation for violating COVID-19 guidelines. On Sept. 2, public health experts met with University officials on Zoom to discuss the current state of COVID-19 and possible changes to be made following the recent spike in cas-
es on campus. “The majority of the clusters are within 10 to 15 dorms or Greek houses,” said Awais Vaid, deputy administrator of the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District. “There are dormitories, private certified housing and Greek houses that have more than 10% of their residents that are currently positive.” He added that the majority of these gatherings are happening in indoor facilities, which cannot be monitored. According to Nigel Goldenfeld, professor in Engineering at the University, bars in Campustown, such as Joe’s Brewery, have not been the leading source for COVID-19 cases and their attendance is currently less than 50% its usual. Goldenfeld added that generalizations should not be made about Greek life, as not all individuals who belong to fraternities KENYON EDMOND THE DAILY ILLINI or sororities violate the A group of students walk down Green Street without masks on Aug. 21. More than 1,200 people have tested positive for guidelines. COVID-19 in the first two weeks of school. According to Goldenfeld, SEE DISCIPLINE | 3A
INSIDE
University finds 1,242 cases during first two weeks of classes
COVID-19: Chancellor discusses increased discipline
Sports: Former Illini find NFL roster spots
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UI sees nearly 900 new cases in one week cases of COVID-19 on campus during the first two weeks of classes. Testing during Labor Day weekend was also relatively light: 2,609 tests on Saturday was the lowest count since Aug. 16. Weekend testing 37 new cases on both Saturday and Sunday, then 47 on Monday after BY ETHAN SIMMONS around 12,000 tests in the NEWS EDITOR same three days. With another 104 casThe University has found es last Friday, University 1,645 unique cases on camsaliva tests identified 1,242 pus since move-in began
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on Aug. 16, and over 1,738 since the saliva tests were introduced in early July. More than 244,000 saliva tests have been conducted as of Labor Day. More than half of the cases were identified in the week ended Friday: 895 cases in seven days. Of 74,263 tests in the same period, 1.21% of them turned up new cases of COVID-19. The University began calculating its rolling seven-day new case positivity
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rate differently this week. Instead of adding together the week’s single-day new case positivity rates and dividing by seven, it adds all new cases from the week and divides by the number of tests done in the same period. According to estimates from Champaign-Urbana Public Health District’s Awais Vaid, about 95% of on-campus cases have been SEE NEW CASES | 3A
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