Orange County NC Website
Emails show faculty, health officials expressed concern over UNC-Chapel Hill's COVID-19 plan before August reopening - ABC11 Raleigh-Durham <br />https://abc11.com/unc-covid-nc-coronavirus/7029408/[10/19/20, 3:46:34 PM] <br />predict the future and I think that was a frustration <br />shared on both sides," he said. <br />Kramer said one of the biggest frustrations the faculty <br />expressed was wanting more details on what factors <br />would set an 'exit ramp' in motion. <br />Dr. Mimi Chapman, who took over Kramer's role mid- <br />summer, said those specifics were never given. <br />JULY <br />Throughout the summer, campus leadership continued <br />to work on an 'off-ramp.' In emails, officials said they <br />would consider local hospitalization numbers and <br />testing turnaround times. <br />At the beginning of July, Guskiewicz wrote to campus <br />leaders: "Currently, our health care leaders and public <br />health/infection disease experts are not calling for an <br />'off-ramp' based on available information or that their <br />systems/ operations are in any way overwhelmed her <br />in Chapel Hill and Orange County." <br />That was as Orange County health officials began to <br />point to some 'major concerns.' <br />"We are stretched thin as it is," wrote Orange County <br />health director Erica Pettigrew in anticipation of the <br />resources and assistance needed when students caused <br />the county's population to increase by 25 percent. <br />Just one month before most students were expected to <br />arrive back on campus, Pettigrew highlighted her <br />concerns in an email to Blouin on July 1.