Stanford reported 44 new COVID-19 cases among students and 25 new cases among faculty, staff and postdoctoral scholars for the week of Feb. 28, according to the COVID-19 dashboard.
Compared to last week, case counts have decreased by 34% among students and 17% among employees. As of Monday, 62 students are in isolation, according to the dashboard, which is 30 fewer than the University reported on Feb. 28.
The decrease in case counts coincide with the University lifting its indoor mask mandate on Wednesday. Masks are still required in classrooms until the beginning of spring quarter, but students and professors may remove face coverings while speaking.
“We continue to be encouraged by the declining number of positive cases and students in isolation,” University spokesperson E.J. Miranda wrote in an email to The Daily. “We will continue to closely monitor the public health situation on campus.”
11,368 Color COVID-19 tests were administered during the week of Feb. 28, which is a drop from the 14,128 tests administered during the prior week. The decrease comes after the University lifted the testing requirement for fully vaccinated employees on March 1. 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 for fully vaccinated students on April 11.
Stanford’s seven-day positivity rate fell from 1.06% last week to 0.76% this week for students and increased slightly from 0.18% to 0.20% for employees due to reduced testing. The seven-day positivity rate on campus remains lower than Santa Clara County’s 2.10% rate and California’s 2.50% rate, which have both significantly declined since last week.
Of the 25 new employee cases, 11 are included in the University’s testing count. The remaining 14 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.
Peer institutions are experiencing varying changes in student positivity rates. Harvard reported an increase to a 1.13% positivity rate, and the University of California, Berkeley reported a decrease to a 2% positivity rate. Stanford’s 0.76% positivity rate is below both Harvard’s and Berkeley’s.
A total of 2,400 students and 1,845 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, 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 corrected to reflect that the testing requirement will be lifted on April 11. The Daily regrets this error.