BC Reports One New Undergraduate Case Of Coronavirus

Boston MA

17 December, 2020

4:59 PM

Description

By Megan Kelly, The Heights December 17, 2020 Boston College reported one new undergraduate case of COVID-19 out of 2,797 undergraduate tests since the Thursday update of its COVID-19 dashboard, a positivity rate of .04 percent. The updated numbers bring last week's undergraduate positivity rate to .20 percent, slightly below last Thursday's rate of .25 percent. In an email to students selected for asymptomatic surveillance testing this week, Director of University Health Services Douglas Comeau asked that students report for testing one to three days before their scheduled travel date and to minimize their activities until they receive their test results. According to the Commonwealth's weekly dashboard as of last weekend, Newton and Boston remain in the moderate-risk category for COVID-19 transmission. Newton reported an average of 23.6 daily cases per 100,000 residents between Nov. 22 and Dec. 5—up from 20.2 in the previous two-week period. Boston reported 46.06 daily cases per 100,000 residents during the same period, a jump from the prior two-week incidence rate of 31.7. Massachusetts, which only officially recommends that people get tested if they have COVID-19 symptoms, have come into contact with someone who tested positive, or live in a high-transmission risk community, reported a seven-day average positivity rate of 5.61 percent on Sunday. Boston reported a positivity rate of 7.2 percent between Nov. 30 and Dec. 6. There are currently 27 undergraduate students in isolation as of Friday, with 12 in isolation housing and 15 recovering at home. With about a week remaining in the semester, any student who is contact traced or tests positive for COVID-19 risks being placed into quarantine or isolation housing past BC's official closing date of Dec. 21, Associate Vice President for Student Engagement and Formation Tom Mogan wrote in an email to the BC community. This story was originally published by The Heights, the student run news publication at Boston College.