Stanford reported 67 new COVID-19 cases among students and 30 new cases among faculty, staff and post-doctoral scholars for the week of Feb. 21, according to the COVID-19 dashboard.
Compared to last week, case counts have decreased by 48% among students and 43% among employees. As of Monday, 92 students are in isolation, according to the dashboard, which is 75 fewer than the University reported on Feb. 22.
14,128 Color COVID-19 tests were administered during the week of Feb. 21, which is a drop from the 18,105 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 requires weekly testing for vaccinated students and biweekly tests for unvaccinated students. The University plans to lift the testing requirement on March 1 for fully vaccinated employees and March 11 for fully vaccinated students. The University also announced on Monday that it will provide two free rapid tests for all undergraduates starting Tuesday.
Stanford’s seven-day positivity rate fell from 1.65% last week to 1.06% this week for students, and from 0.33% to 0.18% 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 2.90% rate, which have both significantly declined since last week.
Of the 30 new employee cases, 14 are included in the University’s testing count. The remaining 16 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 continued decline in the number of students in isolation and those testing positive,” wrote University spokesperson E.J. Miranda in an email to The Daily. “We had hoped to see such reductions as the omicron wave subsided.”
Unlike Stanford, peer institutions are experiencing increases in student positivity rates. Harvard reported an increase to a 0.69% positivity rate, and the University of California, Berkeley, reported an increase to a 2.7% positivity rate.
A total of 2,356 students and 1,835 faculty, staff and postdocs have tested positive through Stanford’s surveillance testing system since June 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.