Chapter 1: Intro
"Coronavirus: Why you should be watching"
That was the headline on The Daily Tar Heel's first article on coronavirus — an editorial published on Jan. 23, 2020.
At the time, the Editorial Board said the chances of a student contracting coronavirus were close to zero, but that we should be paying attention to it.
On March 11, 2020, the University announced an extended spring break and a move to indefinite remote instruction. Remote instruction continued through the following semester — with the exception of a few optimistic days of in-person classes in August 2020.
But about a week after UNC students returned for class, on Aug. 16, the DTH published another editorial after the University reported four COVID-19 clusters on and around campus.
This one had the headline "We all saw this coming," but is more commonly known as the "clusterfuck" editorial.
Shortly thereafter, UNC announced the closure of campus and a pivot back to remote learning. There were 505 positive COVID-19 cases among students the week campus shut down.
Since then, UNC students have experienced a mixture of virtual and in-person learning as the University has adjusted back to its "normal" campus life.