WINGATE, N.C. — According to new numbers released Monday afternoon, 72 students and four employees have tested positive at Wingate University. Of those, 38 are currently isolating on campus.
A school spokeswoman said 34 other students who tested positive returned to their hometowns despite recommendations to remain on campus.
According the schools online dashboard, the number of cases was most recently updated on October 2. The number of cases on campus has steadily been rising since the end of last month.
WCNC Charlotte spoke with a student who tested negative a few days ago, but says he knows some of the students who tested positive.
“I just know some people who got it,” said student, Daniel Kuper. “I got tested negative, so that was of course good for me.”
“I tested negative, thank God,” said student, Torrence Jones. “It’s pretty scary knowing that there’s that many people tested positive on campus.”
School leaders say they’re aggressively doing testing and contact tracing.
“We have a rapid or antigen test, which can give us results in about 15 minutes,” said Provost Jeff Frederick, provost at Wingate University.
At this point, 38 people who tested positive are isolating on campus. Others who’ve been exposed are in quarantine off-campus.
“Some is off-campus housing, some is hotels,” said Frederick.
According to school officials, the remaining 34 students who tested positive have returned to their hometowns, despite recommendations to stay on campus.
“We don’t want to be part of any transmission inadvertent to take place in anyone’s home town,” Frederick said.
Fall classes began at the university on August 24. About one month into the students' return to campus, the school's online COVID-19 dashboard reported 26 people were positive for the virus. That number nearly doubled in two days with 51 people testing positive for COVID-19 by September 28.
While school leaders say they haven’t identified the exact source of the outbreak, they say mask-wearing fatigue and gatherings possibly contributed to the spread.
“I see people not wearing they’re masks, and I’m just like, we’re trying to make sure the COVID cases doesn’t spread anymore,” said Jones.
So far, 30 students and two employees have recovered.
The school's website also shows there is a 45 day supply of PPE on campus including hand sanitizer, disinfectant, and wipes.
Wingate is in Union County which has reported nearly 5,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began. There have been 59 deaths in Union County.