Stanford reported 120 new COVID-19 cases among students and 74 new cases among faculty, staff and postdoctoral scholars for the week of April 4, according to the COVID-19 dashboard.
These case counts coincide with the final week of mandated Color COVID-19 testing for vaccinated students. The University lifted the testing requirement for these students on Monday.
Case counts have decreased by 13% among students and increased by 17% among employees compared to the prior week. According to the dashboard, 147 students are in isolation as of Monday — a drop from the 208 students last week.
“We anticipated a rise in positive test results as students returned from spring break, and we are encouraged by the most recent data that show the numbers of students in isolation and those testing positive have declined,” University spokesperson E.J. Miranda wrote in an email to The Daily.
Miranda wrote that mandated testing will continue for non-boosted students and for faculty, staff and postdocs who are not fully vaccinated.
Stanford continues to provide students with Color COVID-19 tests and require biweekly tests for unvaccinated students. While vaccinated students no longer have to test through Stanford’s surveillance system, the University continues to emphasize that vaccination, testing and masking can prevent serious illness, according to the dashboard.
The University’s seven-day positivity rate rose from 2.01% last week to 2.61% this week for students and fell from 0.92% to 0.89% for employees. The number of tests administered to students dropped from 6,866 the prior week to 4,604. The seven-day positivity rate for students is greater than Santa Clara County’s 2.3% rate and California’s 1.7% rate.
Many peer institutions are experiencing increases in student positivity rates. Harvard reported an increase to 1.37% positivity rate, and the University of California, Berkeley reported an increase to a 2.30% positivity rate. Stanford’s 2.61% positivity rate remains above that of Harvard and Berkeley.
Of the 74 new employee cases, 30 are included in the University’s testing count. The remaining 44 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.
A total of 2,807 students and 1,963 faculty, staff and postdocs have tested positive through Stanford’s surveillance testing system since June 29, 2020, according to the dashboard.