Several large universities are planning to increase coronavirus testing in the spring after seeing outbreaks in the fall.

The University of Florida, the University of South Carolina, and the University of North Carolina are among the institutions ramping up or mandating testing after having laxer policies this fall.

The announcements come as the U.S. clocks more than 100,000 new coronavirus cases each day and hospitals in some regions near capacity.

The University of North Carolina System recently announced that students will be required to get tested for the coronavirus before they return to campus in the spring. The policy marks a departure from the fall, when testing across the system was largely voluntary.

UNC-Chapel Hill was among several universities that sent students home after the fall term started because of outbreaks on campus. The university hopes to avoid the same fate this spring by requiring students living on campus and nearby to get tested twice weekly, the News & Observer reported.

This testing frequency is consistent with that highlighted in a study published in July in the Journal of the American Medical Association, which recommended students be tested every couple of days and follow social distancing measures to avoid campus outbreaks.

Mask-wearing, handwashing, de-densifying the campus, and having the opportunities for safe human interaction will also be important, said A. David Paltiel, the study's lead author and a public health professor at Yale University.

Read the full article about increased testing for COVID-19 in higher education by Natalie Schwartz at Education Dive.