Eighteen positive COVID-19 tests were reported last week by the University of St. Thomas’ Center For Well-Being Monday, a number cut in half from last week.
All cases came from the St. Paul campus, with one from an employee and the rest from students.
This marks the third consecutive week of positive test number declines.
“While this trend is encouraging, the Center for Well-Being continues to stress the importance of following all protocols in the Campus Preparedness Plan,” the COVID-19 Dashboard message said. “St. Thomas’ contact tracing team strongly encourages all who test positive to provide thorough information regarding close contacts they may have had with other individuals.”
This decrease comes as the state’s COVID-19 case tally continues to rise. As of Sunday, there are 124,431 cases in Minnesota. Testing has also ramped up across the state, with a little over 5 million tests administered last weekend.
As of last week, there continues to be no evidence of classroom or lab transmission, and active cases within the community remain manageable based on the Key Considerations to Guide Decisions on Campus Operations.
The university is reporting more than 50% availability in quarantine and isolation spaces on campus and testing supplies and personal protective equipment on campus remain at sufficient levels. Contact tracers also remain available to interview between 90 and 100% of positive cases reported within 24 hours of test results.
The positive COVID-19 test numbers come from tests conducted at the Center for Well-Being and self-reported tests.
According to the university’s COVID-19 Preparedness Plan, individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 “are expected to stay home until they have been fever-free for 72 hours (without use of medicine that reduces fever) and at least 10 days have passed since symptoms first appeared and other symptoms have improved.”
The plan also requires 14 days of quarantine for community members who have had close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.
COVID-19 data is released by St. Thomas weekly on Mondays and can be found on the university’s COVID-19 Dashboard.
Justin Amaker can be reached at justin.amaker@stthomas.edu.
Joey Swanson can be reached at swan5350@stthomas.edu.
Maggie Stout can be reached at maggie.stout@stthomas.edu.