The University reported six student and five faculty, staff and postdoctoral scholar COVID-19 cases for the week of Nov. 22, according to the COVID-19 dashboard.

Of the five new employee COVID-19 cases, four are included in the University’s testing count, and the remaining individual either tested outside the University’s surveillance testing program or tested positive earlier than last week but had just reported it to the University, according to the dashboard.

The new student and employee case counts are lower than the 13 student cases and 14 employee cases reported the week before, marking the second consecutive week of declining cases. Many students and faculty, however, were off-campus during the week of Nov. 22 due to Thanksgiving break, resulting in the administration of 5,914 student tests and 5,928 employee tests in comparison to the 12,318 student tests and 11,084 employee tests for the week of Nov. 15. 

The 0.10% seven-day positivity rate for students and 0.07% for faculty remains lower than Santa Clara County’s 1.6% rate and California’s 3.0% rate. The California Department of Public Health is closely monitoring the new Omicron variant, which has not yet been detected in the U.S, according to the California Department of Public Health.

“The university continues to monitor CDC, state and county guidance and adjust health and safety protocols as conditions evolve and provide updates to the university community,” University spokesperson E.J. Miranda wrote. “We also encourage all eligible members of our community to get the COVID-19 booster as it is extremely effective at extending the protection offered by initial COVID vaccinations.”

The University maintains that vaccination and mask-wearing provide strong protection against serious COVID-19 illness, and the University continues to provide weekly testing to campus community members and adhere to the county mask mandate. The University is also monitoring the situation surrounding COVID-19 variants, according to the dashboard.