COVID-19 cases rose sharply this week, which began with a single-day case high of 31 cases on Tuesday. This was followed by 25 and 34 cases Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, bringing the total number of active cases identified within the University to 169, according to the University’s COVID-19 tracker.
112 of the active cases are students, while 57 are faculty or staff.
The seven-day average positivity rate increased from 2.83 percent Sunday to 3.65 percent on Thursday. As of Friday, the weekly average positivity rate for students is 4.64 percent, compared to 2.44 percent for faculty and staff.
Four patients were admitted to U.Va. Health with COVID-19 Thursday, bringing the current total of COVID-19 hospitalizations to 43. The University is currently at two percent occupation for quarantine rooms and eight percent occupation for isolation rooms. Quarantine rooms are for those who may have been exposed to COVID-19, while isolation rooms are for those who have tested positive for COVID-19.
Since last fall, the University has administered 393,306 COVID-19 tests, with U.Va. Health taking an average of 17 hours to return a test.
This semester, all students living in the Charlottesville and Albemarle area who are not vaccinated are required to report for testing on a weekly basis. If a student fails to comply with mandatory testing, one of four punishments increasing in severity will be instituted.
Students who are symptomatic can make an appointment on their HealthyHoos portal to get tested this Saturday between noon and 4 p.m. at the Student Health and Wellness building. Faculty, staff, and students can also undergo voluntary asymptomatic testing during walk-in testing hours.
In order to return to residential learning, students were required to either submit proof of full COVID-19 vaccination or provide documentation of an approved medical or religious exemption. Faculty and staff were not required — but encouraged — to get vaccinated before returning to in-person teaching.
238 students were disenrolled from the University before the start of classes for failing to complete the COVID-19 vaccine requirement. As of Aug. 20, 96.6 percent of students are fully vaccinated. The remaining 2.4 percent of students have documented vaccination exemptions.
The University’s COVID-19 tracker is updated every weekday at 4 p.m.
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