Ten Santa Fe College students reported testing positive for COVID-19 between March 2 and Monday.
Because the college’s Spring Break was last week, the report covers the past two weeks. The college’s total number of reported positive cases since March 8, 2020 is now 706, according to a report provided by Santa Fe spokesperson Jay Anderson. The school’s enrollment in Fall 2020 was 13,996.
Based on a timeline determined by Santa Fe’s contact tracing team, two students may have been positive while on campus. However, the team determined this did not result in any additional exposures.
Santa Fe does not require routine testing, meaning its case numbers are all self-reported. If someone exhibits COVID-19 symptoms or sickness, they’re treated as a presumptive positive case and made to isolate, regardless of whether they are tested.
UF did not have a Spring Break this year to limit spread of the virus through travel. Instead, the university encouraged — but did not require — professors to give students two designated days off Feb. 25 and March 24. This semester, UF has seen its lowest number of on-campus cases since July 2020.
Using the numbers provided in the report, 28.57% of Santa Fe students and employees who reported feeling sick during the last two weeks tested positive for COVID-19. This percentage was calculated using the total number of opened cases, which includes people who reported feeling sick to the college regardless of whether they were tested, and the total number of reported positive cases.
Since March 2020, 31.12% of those who reported feeling sick to the college tested positive for COVID-19.
Contact Juliana Ferrie at jferrie@alligator.org. follow her on Twitter @juliana_f616.
Juliana Ferrie is a second-year UF journalism student. She is excited to be working for The Alligator as the Santa Fe Beat reporter. In her free time, you can find her reading or listening to music.
