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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 />August. And we wrote petitions and we sent emails to <br />the administrators and we organized rallies and we <br />had a town hall and we couldn't get through to them," <br />Smith said. <br />Still, the overall plan of offering in-person classes did <br />not waver, according to email exchanges. <br />"We did not fully understand the way in which we <br />could be overwhelmed by the spread of the disease <br />once it started and I regret that we could not predict <br />that more accurately," Kramer said. <br />However, emails reveal the OCHD did know the extent <br />that the community could be overwhelmed by COVID- <br />19 and warned UNC leaders. <br />The true extent of OCHD's concerns boiled over days <br />before the first round of students was expected to start <br />moving in. Guskiewicz, Blouin and Vice-Chancellor <br />George Battle received an email from Orange County <br />health officials recommending students start virtually. <br />"I fear it will not be enough to contain the full campus <br />community upon return for the Fall Semester," the <br />email said. "If students begin to move back on campus <br />next week, we could quickly become a hot spot for new <br />cases as thousands of students from all across the <br />country/world merge onto the UNC Campus." <br />Before the semester even began, cases increased by 22 <br />percent between 18 and 22-year-olds. Health officials <br />pointed to continual issues with contact tracing and <br />testing, receiving mounting concerned emails and a <br />lack of planning regarding public buses. <br />"To keep the town operational we could potentially