Cases of COVID-19 at the University of Georgia continue to decline as students complete the last full week of classes for the Spring Semester. Only 15 cases were reported last week—an all-time low since UGA began its testing program last August and a decrease of nearly 60 percent from the previous week.
Of those who reported positive tests through the DawgCheck system, 11 were students, three were staff members, and one was a faculty member.
Surveillance testing also declined from the prior week, with a total of 576 tests administered at the Legion Field surveillance site and in a satellite location. The positivity rate held steady, near 1 percent (1.04 percent).
As of Sunday, April 25, the University Health Center has administered 17,951 vaccines, with 8,481 members of the UGA community being fully vaccinated. Many members of the UGA community have received their vaccines at other locations, improving overall progress toward herd immunity. All faculty, staff and students over the age of 16 are now eligible to be vaccinated, and the UHC can accommodate up to 1,000 vaccines per day.
“Numbers like these are very encouraging,” said Dr. Garth Russo, executive director of the University Health Center and chair of UGA’s Medical Oversight Task Force. “Soon we will provide an update to the campus community on how we will continue to offer vaccines and surveillance testing over the summer. It’s important that we all remain focused in the coming weeks on best practices like getting vaccinated, being tested, continuing to wear our masks and maintaining social distancing.”
The University reports test results on a weekly basis each Wednesday on the University Health Center website: https://uhs.uga.edu/healthtopics/covid-19-health-and-exposure-updates. The UHC website also now includes a Vaccine Dashboard that reports the total amount of vaccine received and administered through the previous week, as well as the number of vaccines given by the UHC within the prior week.
The University Health Center and Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratories are also meeting daily demand for testing with saliva-based testing that is free to faculty, staff and students.
The University is maintaining a stock of nearly 450 rooms to accommodate isolation and quarantine housing, as needed. At present, no rooms are in use—a first for the academic year.
The University of Georgia community consists of nearly 50,000 students, faculty and staff.