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36 students test positive for COVID-19 ahead of fall semester

COVID-19 positive students are required to follow CDC guidelines prior to their return to Grounds

<p>The positive cases comprise just 0.28 percent of test results returned to the University to date</p>

The positive cases comprise just 0.28 percent of test results returned to the University to date

36 University students have tested positive for COVID-19 before the start of fall classes, according to University spokesperson Brian Coy. 

The positive cases comprise 0.28 percent of test results returned to the University to date. As of Monday, 12,832 University students have tested negative for COVID-19. Coy said the University does not currently have data regarding the undergraduate and graduate student breakdown of cases. 

University policy asks students to follow guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control after testing positive — but students do not have to take another test before ceasing self-isolation and returning to Grounds. 

“Per CDC recommendations, students should self-isolate for 10 days after the date of a positive test or for 10 days after the development of symptoms (whichever is longer), resolution of fever for at least 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication, and improvement of symptoms,” University policy states. “In order to return to Grounds (meaning in-person coursework and activities), students will be required to attest that all of the above criteria are met.”

Roughly 20,000 students requested self-administered viral PCR test kits from the Lets Get Checked Lab, which the University hired to distribute free at-home COVID-19 tests to students returning to Grounds. Students may also arrange a test from another provider at their own cost, in lieu of the University-supplied test. 

After the academic term begins and students continue to return results, the University will provide additional updates on COVID-19 cases in the community. 

“This is just one part of the U.Va.’s strategy to prevent the spread of COVID-19 this semester,” Coy said in an email to The Cavalier Daily. “We continue to prepare additional resources and protocols to limit the spread and intervene quickly in the event of positive cases.”

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