TCU reports 55 new COVID-19 cases on campus

Texas Christian University in Fort Worth is reporting 55 new cases of the coronavirus just five days into the fall semester.

FORT WORTH, Texas - Texas Christian University in Fort Worth is reporting 55 new cases of the coronavirus just five days into the fall semester.

That’s more than double the number of cases reported on Monday when classes began.

Of the 55 cases, 53 are student cases and two are on-campus employees.

Thirty-seven of the students who tested positive were on campus within two days of receiving the positive result, the university said.

TCU’s count of active COVID-19 cases with direct or indirect impact to the campus is up sharply this week, with a total of 70 students and employees as of Friday.

Perspectives on the positive cases are varied.

“I’ve noticed people are taking it really seriously and especially in indoor areas, hallways, the bathroom, the cafeteria,” freshman Christianna Ferrari said.

“If they’re wearing their mask wrong, we will correct that,” TCU faculty member Tiffany Combust said. “With people in our office, we had to, it’s an adjustment to get used to.”

“I saw probably like 15 to 20 students where their mask was completely off or they were improperly wearing them,” senior pre-med major Diandria Veals said.

Veals tweeted that she left the library because she saw numerous protocol violations.

“I’m like, I don’t feel comfortable inside with all these people even if they’re six-feet apart with the air circulating. So I ended up getting up and leaving,” she said.

TCU is offering both in-person and online classes this semester. Those who chose to attend classes in-person must wear a mask on campus.

Some in-person classes have also moved to larger classrooms to allow for social distancing.

TCU Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Kathy Cavins-Tull sent out a letter to students Tuesday asking them not to host parties, attend parties or come on class if they feel sick.

“It is our expectation that all students comply with our health and safety protocols. Physical distancing, mask wearing, daily health checks and other prevention methods are not optional. Importantly, gatherings of 10 or more are not permitted,” she said.

“Party-wise, on campus, I haven’t heard of any. There have been off-campus parties that I’ve heard of,” sophomore Paul Bastidas said.

Earlier this week, the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill decided to offer only online learning for undergraduates because of a spike in COVID-19 cases.

Officials there said the positivity rate for tests jumped from 2.8% to 13.6% at the school’s campus health center.

Vice Chancellor Cavins-Tull suggested the same could happen at TCU if things get worse.

“We feel blessed to have you back on campus. However, if TCU faces a significant coronavirus outbreak on campus, we will have to make swift decisions about our learning environment,” she wrote in her letter to students.

Meanwhile at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, there have been 24 coronavirus cases reported so far this month.

This week, there were seven. Six are students, including five who live on campus. The other is a university employee.

Classes begin at SMU on Monday, August 24.

The university’s president sent an email on Friday warning about parties, noting that’s it’s the same cause for several ‘shut-downs’ at universities around the country. It says, in part: “For us to complete the SMU fall semester on campus, such potential parties must be cancelled before they begin.”

Members of two sororities at Texas A&M University in College Station are under quarantine after coronavirus exposure.

The order affects in-house members of Kappa Kappa Gamma and Delta Delta Delta. Texas A&M said both sororities are cooperating.