Stanford reported 221 new COVID-19 cases among students and 91 new cases among faculty, staff and postdoctoral scholars for the week of April 18, according to the COVID-19 dashboard.
Case counts increased by 53% among students and by 25% among employees compared to the week before. According to the dashboard, 326 students are in isolation as of Monday, an increase from the 212 students reported last week.
This is the second consecutive week of rising student cases. The increasing cases coincide with the University lifting its Color COVID-19 weekly testing requirement for vaccinated students on April 11. The University attributed the recent rise in cases to travel and gatherings, according to the dashboard.
University spokesperson E.J. Miranda wrote in a statement to The Daily that “the dashboard contains the most current information available.” Miranda also referenced a Thursday email from Associate Vice Provost of Environmental Health & Safety Russell Furr that included updates on COVID safety guidelines. According to the email, masking will continue to be required in classrooms and on Marguerite buses until further notice.
“We will continue to closely monitor the public health situation on campus and update the community on any new protocols or policy changes,” Miranda wrote.
Stanford continues to provide students with Color COVID-19 tests and require biweekly tests for unvaccinated students. While vaccinated students no longer have to test through Stanford’s surveillance system, the University continues to emphasize that vaccination, testing and masking can prevent serious illness, according to the dashboard.
The University’s seven-day positivity rate rose from 4.73% last week to 7.27% this week for students and rose from 0.74% to 1.05% for employees. The number of tests administered to students dropped from 3,045 from the prior week to 3,039, according to the dashboard. The seven-day positivity rate for students is greater than Santa Clara County’s 4.2% rate and California’s 3.1% rate.
Many peer institutions are experiencing mixed changes in student positivity rates. Harvard reported a slight decrease to a 1.6% positivity rate, and the University of California, Berkeley, reported an increase to a 5.9% positivity rate. Stanford’s 7.27% positivity rate remains above that of Harvard and Berkeley.
Of the 91 new employee cases, 35 are included in the University’s testing count. The remaining 56 individuals tested outside the University’s surveillance testing system through rapid antigen tests or tested positive earlier than last week but just reported it to the University, according to the dashboard.
A total of 3,172 students and 2,012 faculty, staff and postdocs have tested positive through Stanford’s surveillance testing system since June 29, 2020, according to the dashboard.
This article has been corrected to reflect that there were 312 total COVID-19 cases during the week of April 18 . The Daily regrets this error.