Stanford reported 155 new student and 191 new faculty, staff and post-doctoral scholar COVID-19 cases for the week of Jan. 24, according to the COVID-19 dashboard.
Compared to last week, case counts decreased by 45% among students and 37% among employees. As of Monday, 204 students are in isolation, according to the dashboard, which is a decline from the 338 isolating students reported on Jan. 24.
Fewer Color COVID-19 tests were administered during the first week of in-person classes than the week before, with 19,674 Color tests administered during the week of Jan. 24 compared to 23,747 tests the prior week. These testing numbers do not include rapid antigen tests, which are administered to all students upon their arrival to campus, according to the dashboard. Stanford continues to provide students with Color COVID-19 tests and requires weekly testing for those who are vaccinated. Unvaccinated students must test twice a week.
Stanford’s seven-day positivity rate fell from 2.07% last week to 1.64% this week for students, and it fell from 1.61% to 1.02% for faculty, staff and postdocs. The seven-day positivity rate on campus remains lower than Santa Clara County’s 11.2% rate and California’s 14.5% rate.
Of the 191 new employee cases, 104 are included in the University’s testing count, and the remaining individuals tested outside the University’s surveillance testing system, such as through rapid antigen tests, or tested positive earlier than last week but just reported it to the University, according to the dashboard.
“We are encouraged by the current dashboard data that show a lower number of positive cases and fewer students in isolation,” wrote University spokesperson E.J. Miranda in an email to The Daily. “We will continue to closely monitor the public health situation on campus.”
Peer institutions are experiencing mixed changes in student positivity rates. Dartmouth reported a drop to a 9.1% positivity rate, and Northwestern reported a slight increase to 2.4%. Both are above Stanford’s 2.07% positivity rate.
A total of 1,863 students and 1,663 faculty, staff and postdocs have tested positive through Stanford’s surveillance testing system since Aug. 31, 2020, according to the dashboard.
The University continues to monitor the COVID-19 variants and enforce weekly COVID-19 testing and masking requirements, regardless of vaccination status. Stanford also continues to emphasize that vaccination, testing and masking can prevent serious illness, according to the dashboard.
This article has been updated to include a comment from University spokesperson E.J. Miranda.