COVID-19 UPDATE: Fifteen positive COVID-19 cases mark third week of increases, linked to day parties

Posted on by and
(Lauren Dettmer/TommieMedia)

Fifteen positive COVID-19 tests were reported last week according to the Center for Well-Being, an increase of 6 from the previous week.

Ten students and five employees are among the positive tests, with 14 being from the St. Paul campus and one from the Minneapolis campus. This is the third week in a row that cases have risen.

Several cases involved students gathering at adjacent student apartments and houses nearby, according to the university’s COVID-19 dashboard. The university and the state still enforce masks and social distancing protocols, even as those restrictions have relaxed in the past week. See the university’s updated COVID-19 protocols here.

This increase comes as the Minnesota Department of Health reported zero COVID-19 deaths for the first time since last April.

(Lauren Dettmer/TommieMedia)

The state has administered over 1,400,000 COVID-19 vaccines as of Monday. 1,009 cases were still reported and 318 people remain hospitalized. The Minnesota Department of Health updates the COVID-19 situation daily here.

St. Thomas releases COVID-19 data every Monday, and is available on the COVID-19 Dashboard.

Elijah Todd-Walden can be reached at todd5861@stthomas.edu.