COVID-19 cases on Grounds jumped this week, with 40 student cases and four faculty and staff cases diagnosed Wednesday alone. This brings the current count of active cases within the University community to 222, according to the University’s COVID-19 tracker.
This week saw the largest numbers of cases since students returned to Grounds for the spring semester. In addition to the 44 new cases Wednesday, 43 new cases were reported on Tuesday and 58 new cases were reported Monday. Monday also made up the single largest daily number of cases in a single day — 58 — since Sept. 17, when 59 cases were reported.
Of the 222 active cases in the University community, 201 are students while 21 are faculty or staff. This brings the total number of student cases during the spring semester to 318 and the number of faculty and staff cases during the spring semester to 187.
Feb. 7 and Feb. 10 saw an average of 36 new cases per day, compared to a case average of 11 between Jan. 31 and Feb. 6. Wednesday’s seven-day average positivity rate was 1.02 percent, compared to a positivity rate of .58 percent last Wednesday.
Students living in on-Grounds housing who come into contact with an infected individual are required to quarantine in designated University-run quarantine locations while those living in off-Grounds housing who are exposed are required to quarantine in their residence for 14 days. As of Thursday, 22 percent of quarantine rooms and 15 percent of isolation rooms are occupied.
The total number of tests administered Wednesday was 3,683, of which students made up 3,236, or 87.8 percent. This number is just slightly larger than last Wednesday’s 3,446 tests, despite the significant rise in cases.
Faculty and staff can undergo voluntary asymptomatic testing at any point. Students living in the Charlottesville-Albemarle area are assigned a time and location for mandatory weekly asymptomatic testing. Students who fail to comply with mandatory testing are subject to disciplinary action with increasing severity. If anyone believes they have been exposed to COVID-19, they should contact Student Health and Wellness for testing instructions.
U.Va. Health is taking an average of 11 hours to complete tests and has conducted 140, 607 tests since Aug. 17. Four patients were hospitalized at U.Va. Health yesterday due to COVID-19, bringing the total number of in-house COVID-19 patients to 38.
Students, faculty and staff must adhere to the provisions of Governor Ralph Northam’s executive order — which mandates a midnight to 5 a.m. curfew and bans the sale of alcohol after 10 p.m. — and must follow University guidelines as well, including wearing a mask at all times and adhering to a strict gathering limit of six people.
Both the Inter-Fraternity Council and Inter-Sorority Council announced Jan. 26 that they were repealing their ban on in-person gatherings that was in place throughout the fall — this repeal permits the IFC to hold in-person recruitment events — including bid day events — that adhere to public health guidelines. Recruitment began Feb. 4 for the IFC and Feb. 5 for the ISC and will continue through this weekend.
Deputy Spokesperson Wes Hester said that University health officials have not identified a connection between Greek life gatherings and COVID-19 at this point.
Hester said that the University will continue to monitor COVID-19 numbers and work with student organizations and those in Charlottesville — including the IFC and ISC — to maintain the safety and health of students and faculty.
“It is important to note that University health officials have not seen any specific connection between the gatherings ... and the rise in cases we are currently experiencing,” Hester said. “We are constantly working with student groups from across the community to ensure that all health and safety protocols are followed and will continue to do so going forward.”
The University’s COVID-19 tracker is updated every weekday at 4 p.m.
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