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Although quite a few law schools have decided to hold their fall semesters entirely online due to the coronavirus crisis, even more have opted for hybrid models, and school is set to begin in just a matter of days, with orientation for first-year students starting today. Unlike Harvard, UC Berkeley, and Georgetown, the majority of the T14 will be welcoming students to their campuses this fall, with the hopes of preventing COVID-19 infections from spreading among members of the student body.
Unfortunately, a student has already tested positive at one of these elite law schools.
Yesterday, UVA Law notified all members of the law school community that a student already on campus has the novel coronavirus. The school is offering a hybrid educational model this fall, and students choose for themselves whether they wanted to take class online or in person. Students were required to submit negative COVID tests before returning to school if they chose to take classes live on campus. First-year students were supposed to have orientation today, and officially start school on Wednesday, with 2Ls and 3Ls returning next week.
UVA Law’s infected student is reportedly self-isolating in Charlottesville. NBC 29 has additional details on what’s happening at the law school:
The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) is already at work contact tracing to identify anyone the infected student came into contact with.
“VDH is leading the effort to identify individuals who were in close contact with the student, reaching out to those individuals, and arranging for their quarantine, if necessary,” said in the email to the community. “University and Law School staff are also working to notify and support potentially affected members of our community. We are encouraged by how the health and safety protocols have operated in this case to minimize the spread of the disease and to help the student who became infected in a prompt and effective manner.”
According to NBC 29, the law school still intends to begin classes in person this week, despite the positive COVID test.
We wish the sick UVA Law student — and the school — the best of luck doing battle against the coronavirus this semester.
UVA Law School reports positive COVID-19 test in student body [NBC 29]
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.