Cases of COVID-19 continue to rise at Bowling Green State University.
Today’s weekly update shows 127 news cases between Nov. 11 and Nov. 17, 118 of those students, three faculty and six staff. Of those who tested positive, 82 percent live off campus. The university now has 96 active cases – faculty, staff and students who are being monitored by their local health departments according to state and federal isolation protocols.
This increase Chief Health Officer Ben Batey said is similar to the trends being experienced in Wood County and across the state.
BGSU has 14 students who have COVID-19 in isolation on campus and 25 who have been exposed in quarantine in residence halls.
The university has conducted 149 random surveillance tests on asymptomatic graduate and undergraduate students and had two positive results, a 1.3 percent positivity rate. Another 583 surveillance tests were done on targeted student populations such as athletes, cheer team members, and marching band members who cannot strictly follow the COVID-19 protocols.
Four came back positive, a 0.7 percent positivity rate.
Since the beginning of the semester 5233 surveillance tests have been done, detecting 39 cases, a 0.7 percent positivity rate.
Of the 737 on-demand tests conducted last week, 57 people tested positive, a 7.7 percent positivity rate.
In all, BGSU has had 771 cases of COVID-19 this semester – 741 students, seven faculty, and 23 staff.
Batey said that the university has been conducting tests – either rapid antigen or the more reliable PCR tests leading up to the end of the semester when students will head home to spend time with their families.
“We can’t emphasize enough if you are having any symptoms whatsoever you need to isolate away from other individuals,” Batey said in his weekly message. “We’ve seen many cases where a person thinks it’s just seasonal allergies or a mild cold, and they still go about their daily activities, spending time with family and friends, only to find out they do test positive for COVID-19 and now they’ve potentially spread that virus to other people.”
