UM COVID cases surge after Thanksgiving break, finals pivot online, grad parties canceled

With only days left in the semester, University of Miami has found itself dealing with a surge in COVID cases.

“Many of my students have it,” said a professor who says more of his students have tested positive than any other time during the semester. “It’s a total outbreak.” The professor did not want to be identified by name.

Cases first started to tick up on Dec. 6, a week after students returned from Thanksgiving break. Some on campus have felt that the current outbreak could have been avoided had the university finished classes prior to the break, which was the schedule last year during the coronavirus pandemic.

“Going elsewhere for Thanksgiving and returning is not a good idea if people don’t have to get tested when they return,” said Letizia La Sorte, 22, a junior at University of Miami who tested positive right before finals, despite being fully vaccinated. She had traveled to the Dominican Republic during Thanksgiving break.

After the break, UM advised students to get tested but did not require it.

Recent surge in UM COVID cases

Over the past four days, UM has seen a rapid rise in cases, based on the university’s COVID-19 dashboard, which has been tracking new COVID cases among students, faculty and staff. On Wednesday, 78 new COVID cases were listed among students, the highest level since the dashboard began on Aug. 15 , 2021, when there were four recorded student cases . On Tuesday, there were 68 new cases among students, and 67 new cases on Monday. The university saw a reduction in cases on Thursday, with 57 student cases.

Among faculty and staff, there were 15 new COVID cases on Thursday, 28 on Wednesday, 14 on Tuesday and 12 on Monday.

By contrast, there was one new COVID case among students on Dec. 1 and no new cases among faculty and staff.

“We will continue to ask members of the University to do their part to keep our campuses and our community safe and healthy,” the university said in an emailed response to questions from the Miami Herald. “The University has strongly encouraged postponing any non-essential, in-person gatherings . . The University also encourages faculty and staff who can work remotely to consider doing so through the end of December.“

Breakout after Thanksgiving break

The University acknowledged it had expected an increase in COVID cases following the break and asked students to be tested upon their return.

“By encouraging students to test, we were able to identify COVID-19 infections even in students who are asymptomatic.”

The university also emphasized that its indoor mask mandate and testing protocols remain in place.

The school did note, however, that commencement school receptions have been canceled or moved online, although commencement will continue as planned for Friday afternoon. The university has not enacted any new restrictions in place in light of the outbreak.

The recent discovery of the omicron variant of COVID has led to a run-up in COVID cases, both globally and across the United States, including Florida. Florida reported 8,785 new COVID-19 cases and one new death on Thursday, the most single-day number of cases since September and the delta variant surge.

Come spring semester, students who return to campus will have to get tested within 48 hours of returning to campus, UM said in its email.

Medical school classes pivot to online

The combined total of new cases on Wednesday — including both students and faculty and staff — was 106 cases. Of those, a record 25 came from the medical campus near Jackson Memorial Hospital, according to the dashboard.

Brandon Apagüeño, a first-year medical student at UM, said that when he showed up to class Monday, he realized two of his classmates were absent.

He heard they had tested positive for COVID and because he had been in close contact with them, he immediately got tested himself. Apagüeño, 25, took a PCR and a rapid test later Monday, and both came back positive.

“I’m fine now,” said Apagüeño, who’s fully vaccinated. “I just had a low-grade fever and some congestion.”

After he reported to the university administration that he got sick, he found out he wasn’t the only one. In fact, because so many of his classmates also reported positive results, he said the medical school moved to virtual learning until the last day of the semester Friday.

“It was just like a domino effect,” Apagüeño said. “A bunch of people ended up testing themselves, and it ended up that a lot of us were actually infected, and then they decided that it’d be best to continue on Zoom.”

“The school was really good in their response,” he added.

Some faculty at the Coral Gables campus have also converted their finals to online in light of the recent surge.

On Thursday, UM sent out an email titled “Redoubling our COVID-19 Health Measures.” The email encouraged community members to get their booster shots and avoid “non-essential, in-person gatherings.”

“The finish-line to another successful in-person semester is coming quickly into view. Our shared commitment to our public-health measures — and to each other — has enabled us to navigate the pandemic while still providing our ’Canes community with an engaging and enriching on-campus experience,” read the email signed by Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Jeffrey Duerk and Executive Vice President for Business and Finance and Chief Operating Officer Jacqueline Travisano.

During the fall semester, UM had a spike at the start in August but maintained mostly low COVID-19 numbers during the semester. From Oct. 1 to early December, UM consistently had an average of one or two COVID cases a day, the dashboard shows.

UM returned to full in-person classes this semester, with students side by side, virtually identical to pre-pandemic classes. In August, when the semester began, Florida was contending with a surge in COVID cases brought on by the delta variant. A new surge has begun in recent weeks due to the omicron variant.

Although students were required to wear masks inside, the rule enforcement varied from class to class and building to building. In some classes, students didn’t wear masks and had to be routinely reminded to put a mask on; others instructors allowed students to attend classes without wearing masks on their faces.

This story was originally published December 17, 2021 at 3:41 PM.