SALISBURY – Rowan-Cabarrus Community College announced it will begin this semester online.

Classes at the college resume on Friday, but they will remain online through Jan. 24. Chief Officer of Community Relations Sarah Devlin said the college made the decision after looking at a recent surge in COVID-19 cases.

New infections and the rate of positive tests in the state as well as Rowan and Cabarrus County have risen sharply in the past month, with experts citing the infectiousness of a new omicron variant. The number of new cases in the previous two weeks is 3,212 in Cabarrus County and 1,668 in Rowan County.

By pushing back the start to late January, at the beginning of its next minimester, Devlin said RCCC will have “time to get through the surge in numbers from the holidays.”

The college has no internal trend data because it has been on winter break for weeks. The hope is to get through the quarantine period for people who have been exposed or tested positive.

Devlin said the transition to online should be seamless, pointing to the college’s high digital rankings and that all courses already have an online component. Program with required hands-on components such as welding and cosmetology will be able to move ahead with online coursework and pick up hands on instruction when in-person classes begin again.

The college moved all programs online in 2020 outside of law enforcement and emergency services programs and began bringing more classes back in person over the course of the past year.