Ben Batey, Bowling Green State University’s chief health officer, wants people to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day responsibly.
In his weekly update Tuesday (March 16), he reminded would-be celebrants that if they do go out to an establishment that “you need to be in a seat to remove your mask when you’re eating drinking.” That’s the state guideline.
And if a place is too packed, move on. Otherwise keep social gatherings small.
Batey said he understands people are experiencing “Zoom fatigue.”
“We’re all starting to feel it. ” While people are itching to get together again, Batey urged patience..
While people have started getting vaccinated, the vast majority are still waiting.
This week’s numbers show another uptick in cases with 30 reported between March 8 and March 14. Of those individuals 26 are students, 96 percent of whom live off campus. The others are staff. That’s an increase from 21 last week, and 19 the week before, and 13 the week before that.
Now’s the time, Batey said, to try to reverse that upward trend and get cases down to a manageable level.
One student who tested positive is in isolation in campus housing, and five students who were exposed are in quarantine in residence halls.
Since the beginning of the semester, BGSU has reported 338 cases.
In the past week, the university has conducted 1,267 tests and found 21 cases, a 1.66 percent positivity rate. The state positivity rate is 3 percent.
Since the beginning of the year, the university has conducted 13,195 tests of symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals with 388 cases diagnose, a 2.94 percent positivity rate.
