University of Texas tells undergrads to stay off Austin campus through the end of January

Amid a spike in coronavirus cases, officials at the University of Texas are asking undergraduate students not to come back to the Austin campus until February, nearly two weeks after the semester's official start.

The Austin American-Statesman reports that classes are scheduled to begin Jan. 19, but nearly all of them will be held online through the end of January, according to a letter sent to students by Daniel Jaffe, interim executive vice president and provost of the university.

"Although students may be at lower risk for serious outcomes from Covid-19, you can still carry and spread the disease to other vulnerable individuals in your family and the community," Jaffe wrote. "The rollout of vaccines will eventually slow the spread, but we need your help to minimize exposure on and off campus, particularly now. Our hospitals and health care workers are stretched thin, and ICU availability is extremely limited."

At the start of the fall semester, university officials estimated that 75% of the seats in classes would be online and only 5% would be fully in person. The remaining 20% would be offered through hybrid courses that mix online and in-person elements.

Now all those hybrid classes, with the exception of pharmacy and nursing courses, will be online only through the end of the month.

The idea "was to delay students coming back to campus, to not overburden an already overburdened health system here in Central Texas," says Dr. Amy Young, chair of the university's Health and Wellness Committee and chief clinical officer at UT Health Austin.

She said university officials have recommended that students occupying on-campus housing get a Covid-19 test at least three days before they return to campus; otherwise, the aim is to test them within four days of returning to campus.

The announcement comes as Austin-area universities puzzle over the safest way to reopen their doors with key pandemic indicators — case levels and hospitalizations — at new highs.

Texas State University's chief medical officer told the student body and staff that students living on the San Marcos campus in residence halls are required to show proof of a negative Covid-19 test when they return.

Austin Community College will operate at about 12% campus capacity, according to spokesperson Sydney Pruitt.