Stanford reported 129 new COVID-19 cases among students and 53 among faculty, staff and post-doctoral scholars for the week of Feb. 14, according to the COVID-19 dashboard.

Compared to last week, case counts have decreased by 30% among students and 7% among employees. As of Tuesday, 167 students are in isolation, according to the dashboard, which is 100 fewer than the University reported on Feb. 14.

18,105 Color COVID-19 tests were administered during the week of Feb. 14, which is slightly more than the 18,085 tests administered during the prior week. These testing numbers do not include rapid antigen tests. Stanford continues to provide students with Color COVID-19 tests and require weekly testing for vaccinated students and biweekly tests for unvaccinated students. Stanford will lift the testing requirement on Mar. 1 for employees and on the third week of spring quarter for students. 

Stanford’s seven-day positivity rate fell from 2.14% last week to 1.65% this week for students, and from 0.38% to 0.33% for faculty, staff and postdocs. The seven-day positivity rate on campus remains lower than Santa Clara County’s 2.80% rate and California’s 3.60% rate, which have both significantly declined since last week.

Of the 53 new employee cases, 34 are included in the University’s testing count. The remaining 19 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.

“We are encouraged by the most recent data on our COVID dashboard that show the numbers of students in isolation and those testing positive have declined,” wrote University spokesperson E.J. Miranda in an email to The Daily. “We will continue to closely monitor the public health situation on campus. The most current information on the university’s COVID-related practices and protocols is available in the Feb. 17 update.”

Peer institutions are also experiencing declines in student positivity rates. Harvard reported a drop to a 0.54% positivity rate, and the University of California Berkeley reported a drop to a 2.1% positivity rate. Stanford’s 1.65% positivity rate is above Harvard’s and below Berkeley’s.

A total of 2,289 students and 1,821 faculty, staff and postdocs have tested positive through Stanford’s surveillance testing system since Jun. 29, 2020, according to the dashboard.

The University continues to monitor 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.