University of Wyoming approves revised reopening plan

LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP) - The University of Wyoming approved a revised reopening plan less than two weeks before classes are due to resume.

When the semester starts on Aug. 24, all courses will be online, officials said. Students who are not on campus will be encouraged not to come. Currently, there are approximately 1,500 students on campus, most of them freshmen.

Some students will return on Sept. 7, including first-generation college students and students with lab requirements that cannot be done from home.

Students will return to campus for in-person classes by Sept. 28.

Then, courses will move exclusively online on Nov. 23, which marks the start of Thanksgiving break, and will remain so through the end of the semester.

This phased reopening was developed to try to minimize the spread of coronavirus on campus.

Every student and employee will be required to take free coronavirus tests before returning to campus.

The university is also in the process of developing a testing program that will require employees and students to be tested twice a week during the semester. The program isn’t expected to be in effect until Sept. 28. Random testing will take place from Aug. 24 to Sept. 25 for those on campus.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some - especially older adults and people with existing health problems - it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death.