Temple Postpones In-Person Classes After 100+ Coronavirus Cases

PHILADELPHIA, PA — In-person classes at Temple University will be put on hold for two weeks after more than 100 people affiliated with the school have tested positive for the coronavirus.

Temple President Richard Englert said there are 103 "active cases" of the virus after more than 5,000 tests have been issued over the past two weeks, causing the school to shut down much of the in-person learning from Aug. 31 until Sept. 11.

"Only those classes designated as essential by the dean of a school or college will be held in person during this period and students in those classes will be notified directly by their school or college," Englert wrote in a letter to the Temple community on Sunday.

He said the trend at the university led to the new guidance being issued by the Philadelphia Department of Public Health on Saturday, leading to the call to put off in-person learning.

"We are instituting a two-week 'pause' for in-person classes, and an extensive collaboration with PDPH to test and contact trace student cases and minimize further spread," Englert said.

The university president said new virus cases at the school appear to be the result of "small social gatherings happening off campus" and urged students and others to avoid gatherings "regardless of size."

Most of the Temple students who have tested positive for the virus are asymptomatic, Englert said, while a few do have mild to moderate flu-like symptoms.