Response to a COVID-19 Outbreak on a University Campus - Indiana, August 2020

Abstract

Institutions of higher education adopted different approaches for the fall semester 2020 in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Approximately 45% of colleges and universities implemented online instruction, more than one fourth (27%) provided in-person instruction, and 21% used a hybrid model (1). Although CDC has published COVID-19 guidance for institutions of higher education (2-4), little has been published regarding the response to COVID-19 outbreaks on college and university campuses (5). In August 2020, an Indiana university with approximately 12,000 students (including 8,000 undergraduate students, 85% of whom lived on campus) implemented various public health measures to reduce transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Despite these measures, the university experienced an outbreak involving 371 cases during the first few weeks of the fall semester. The majority of cases occurred among undergraduate students living off campus, and several large off-campus gatherings were identified as common sources of exposure. Rather than sending students home, the university switched from in-person to online instruction for undergraduate students and instituted a series of campus restrictions for 2 weeks, during which testing, contact tracing, and isolation and quarantine programs were substantially enhanced, along with educational efforts highlighting the need for strict adherence to the mitigation measures. After 2 weeks, the university implemented a phased return to in-person instruction (with 85% of classes offered in person) and resumption of student life activities. This report describes the outbreak and the data-driven, targeted interventions and rapid escalation of testing, tracing, and isolation measures that enabled the medium-sized university to resume in-person instruction and campus activities. These strategies might prove useful to other colleges and universities responding to campus outbreaks.

FIGURE 1

Number of COVID-19 cases confirmed through diagnostic testing, by test date, and percentage of positive diagnostic test results before and during a COVID-19 outbreak on a university campus — Indiana, August 2020 Abbreviations: COVID-19 = coronavirus disease 2019; RT-PCR = reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction. * Diagnostic tests were ordered for symptomatic persons or close contacts of persons with a confirmed case. A rapid antigen test was performed first, followed by an RT-PCR test if the rapid test was negative. (This figure only includes diagnostic test results and does not include results from screening tests.) ^† Student leaders began returning in late July; however, the majority of students returned during August 3–9, after residence halls opened on August 3.

FIGURE 2

Number of COVID-19 tests performed, by test indication, and number of COVID-19 cases before, during, and after a COVID-19 outbreak on a university campus — Indiana, August–October 2020 Abbreviations: COVID-19 = coronavirus disease 2019; RT-PCR = reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction.