COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State University released initial results of its COVID-19 testing Tuesday afternoon reporting 80 students, or 1.16 percent of all tests, have so far tested positive.
What You Need To Know
- A new dashboard shows 80 students and 12 employees tested positive in August
- The positivity rate for student testing was 1.16 percent
- Ohio State is taking aggressive action to stop off-campus partying
The release of COVID-19 case numbers comes on the first day of classes with the university’s return to campus in the spotlight following aggressive efforts to put a stop to off-campus social gatherings.
The university hopes it can avoid the woeful reopenings of schools including the University of North Carolina, Notre Dame, and Michigan State which quickly had to return to e-learning as the virus spread on their campuses. So far, the numbers look much better in Columbus.
Earlier in the month, President Kristina Johnson said the university needed to keep its positive rate well below that of Franklin County in order to have a successful on campus semester.
“In order to remain open this fall, we have to drive the COVID-19 positivity rate well below the current Franklin County rate of 5.5 percent,” she wrote in a statement. “If we cannot reduce the rate of infection and hospitalizations, we will return to remote instruction and have to close residence halls.”
On Friday night, following warnings that gatherings would result in suspensions, students were still assembling in crowds, socializing and playing drinking games. However, the scene off-campus near the university was quieter than a typical weekend.
Ohio State issued interim suspensions Monday to 228 students who were allegedly partying in defiance of COVID-19 rules.
School officials used address information that students had on file to connect students to parties. Due to out-of-date addresses, the university suspended some students who no longer lived at the address where parties were documented.
The case numbers released Tuesday showed 12 employees tested positive and 822 tested negative from Aug. 1-22. Testing of students was conducted from Aug. 14-22. According to the university’s new dashboard, 6,805 students have tested negative.
The university said the numbers include routine “surveillance testing” of asymptomatic students as well as testing among students who sought tests upon experiencing symptoms and other who were tested for other reasons.
The dashboard showed 34 students were in isolation and 29 were in quarantine awaiting test results as of Tuesday afternoon. The university has 351 additional available beds it can use to separate students should they become needed.
Some students were quarantined or isolated in Lawrence Tower, where they have private accommodations and receive delivered meals.
One student who tested positive posted a video on TikTok sharing his experience moving into a room on the ninth floor of Lawrence Tower, where about 15 others were also quarantine. He said the food has been better than he was expecting, but he was not excited to spend two weeks alone.
