Howard University will push back the start of classes for the spring semester as Washington, D.C., grapples with a spike in COVID-19 cases.
In-person classes are now slated to resume Tuesday, Jan. 18, instead of Jan. 3, Howard University said. The shift applies to graduate and undergraduate courses.
Howard said its positivity rate — the proportion of COVID-19 tests that show infection — has climbed to 19%, the highest level since the pandemic began.
Students who live in campus housing can’t return until Friday, Jan. 14.
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The university says it will also require returning students to submit a negative PCR test for the virus taken within four days of their arrival back on campus.
All faculty, staff and students will be required to get a booster shot by Jan. 31 or within 30 days of becoming eligible for one, with few exceptions.
The number of COVID-19 diagnoses has spiked more than ninefold in D.C. over the past two weeks, according to NBC News.
