A week after UF recorded some of its lowest Spring semester COVID-19 cases, on-campus testing and off-campus quarantine numbers experienced a slight uptick in positive results.
Since March 8, nine UF employees and 116 students have tested positive through on-campus sites. The week prior, 11 employees and 20 students tested positive. Cumulative cases increased to 9,148 positive tests recorded since March 18 as of Monday.
The seven-day average for positive results collected on campus also increased to about 1% on Friday, breaking the below 1% streak that began Feb. 25.
Quarantine numbers increased for the first time since Feb. 18 on March 9, when they jumped by 41 individuals to a total of 262. That number has since increased to 383 people on Monday.
Students in Greek life or on-campus residence halls who don’t have in-person classes were no longer mandated to be tested biweekly starting Monday, according to new guidelines from the Screen, Test & Protect program. Starting March 22, available testing hours will be shortened at the Ben Hill Griffin stadium and Curtis M. Phillips Center locations.
UF Health Shands Hospital had 10.38% adult ICU availability (27 beds) on Tuesday, and North Florida Regional Medical Center had 18.75% (9 beds), according to the Agency for Health Care Administration of Florida.
A total of 58,025, or about 22% of county residents, have been vaccinated in Alachua County, according to the FDOH in Alachua as of Tuesday. Of these residents, 14,527 have received one dose and 43,498 have received two.
Contact Manny Rea at mrea@alligator.org. Follow him on Twitter @ReaManny.
Manny Rea is a journalism sophomore and the current health reporter for The Alligator. He worked as a copy editor in his freshman year before moving over to the Avenue in summer 2020. He likes to listen to dollar-bin records and read comics, and he is patiently waiting to go back to movies and concerts.
