For Immediate Release
COVID Dashboard Shows Another Significant Decline in Positive Cases
Preventive health measures, careful enforcement of event restrictions and robust testing produced another significant decline in positive COVID-19 cases throughout The University of Alabama System for the week ending October 1.
Weekly student positives dropped by 50% on the UA campus for the fourth successive week, down from 846 the week of August 28 to 24 this week.
Despite the continued drop, UA System officials are closely monitoring health and safety practices at UA, UAB and UAH. “The most recent results from our randomized testing program, which is designed to identify potential campus spread early, remain below 1%,” according to Dr. Richard Friend, Dean of the College of Community Health Sciences at UA and a noted infectious diseases specialist.
Dr. Friend said isolation housing remains at less than 2% occupied. “We will continue to closely monitor our entire testing platform to assure accurate reporting of all positive cases,” he reported today. The low positive numbers on the three System campuses indicate there are very few identified cases as a result of the geographical and sentinel testing that continues on a daily basis.
UA System Health & Safety Task Force members are mindful of higher case numbers in West Alabama, which is due, in part, to a change in reporting by the Alabama Department of Public Health.
Key results of the September 25-October 1 COVID testing program in the UA System:
- 888 students at the University of Alabama were tested this week.
- We continue to conduct daily testing of symptomatic or exposed individuals as well as anyone who requests a test.
- There is a total of 41 active cases at UA this week.
- The number of faculty, staff and students System-wide who are participating in voluntary sentinel testing has increased week-over-week from 915 tested the week of 9/13 to 1,238 sentinel tests conducted the week of 9/30.
