USC To Resume In-Person Classes Monday; UCLA On Jan. 31
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — USC and UCLA will soon resume in-person classes after both universities started the spring semester remotely due to rising COVID-19 cases.
USC will begin classes Monday while UCLA will resume in-person instruction on Jan. 31.
USC started its spring semester with remote classes on Jan. 10 and was originally set to revert to in-person instruction on Jan. 18, the Tuesday after the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
USC Provost Charles F. Zukoski and Chief Health Officer Dr. Sarah Van Orman extended the remote learning period.
"Other campus services likely will be a little slower than normal due to personnel shortages or because departments have been given the ability to reduce density in the workplace, so it might take longer to answer a phone and some offices may not be fully staffed," Zukoski and Van Orman wrote in a university message Friday. "We ask for your continued patience and understanding as we manage our return and do everything we can to continue to keep our campuses safe for our students, staff, faculty, and communities."
All faculty, students and staff who are eligible will be required to receive COVID booster shots. Those on campus will also be required to wear an upgraded medical-grade face covering.
UCLA also began its semester with remote learning due to a rise in COVID-19 cases.
The university released a statement Friday saying, "We are able to make this transition due to improving conditions, including decreasing case and test positivity rates at UCLA and in L.A. County, as well as increased compliance with the new campus COVID-19 testing protocols and vaccine booster requirements announced last month."
(© Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)
