From Georgia Recorder:
By Andy Miller
September 10, 2020
The University of Georgia experienced a strong accumulation of COVID-19 cases for the time being a week in a row.
The school said Wednesday that 1,417 positive tests had been reported according to the university’s DawgCheck reporting formula for the era of August 31 to September 4.
This is an increase of 821 compared to last week, which was the first week of classes, of which 798 were students, 19 staff members and 4 teachers.
Athens, where UGA is located, now ranks 6th on a New York Times list of US metropolitan spaces. But it’s not the first time With the number of new cases, relative to its population, in the last two weeks. 4th.
Clarke County, where Athens is the main city, and Bulloch County, home of Statesboro, are shown in dark red on the Georgia Department of Health map for its maximum COVID-19 rates.
Sudden increases in college cities occur as global instances of COVID-19 reported across the state continue on a reduction trajectory.
State public aptitude said Wednesday that from September 1-8, the seven-day average of new reported COVID instances decreased by 11. 7%. The seven-day average for new instances reported has dropped by 48% since its July 24 peak.
The most recent White House Taskf Frce report on coronavirus, received via WABE, warns that Georgia’s recent progress in slowing COVID-19 transmission may be reversed as cases pile up in schools. and school campuses.
Of the number of recently published UGA cases, 1,402 were students, 14 were staff members and one were a member of the university.
“The number of new cases is a concern,” said Grace Bagwell Adams, associate professor of policies and fitness control at UGA’s School of Public Health.
“What is most worrying at this level is the increase in the percentage of positive effects between surveillance tests, which went from 5. 4% last week to more than 8% this week,” he said.
New knowledge recommends that propagation not occur in classrooms, Dr. Garth Russo, executive director of the University Health Center and chairman of the UGA Medical Surveillance Working Group, said in a statement.
“With only one member of the university tested positive in this period, we can assume that preventive measures taken through the University to control the classroom environment, such as the installation of HEPA filters, social delimitation, the installation of plexiglass shields and the prescription of mask, paintings to make our study rooms safe offers for academics and teachers” Russo said.
But Adams noted that teachers and staff don’t live in dormitories and don’t gather in giant food eating equipment on campus, meaning they may not be as high a threat of exposure as academics on campus, he added.
The school conducts surveillance tests, administering tests to others who have not shown any symptoms of COVID-19 to be informed about how the virus can spread undetected.
The consultation of where the transmission occurs, Adams said, is an empirical consultation that is tested with the knowledge collected and through rigorous research and tactile research. “A conclusion about transmission cannot come from follow-up tests that are based entirely on self-selection [i. e. other people volunteering to participate] and not random sampling,” he said.
“I’m completely waiting for those numbers to increase, especially after Labor Day travel,” he said.
UGA’s knowledge comes from verifications carried out as a component of the university’s surveillance verification program; those executed at the University Health Center; reports from medical providers in the Athens area; positive verification reports from other sources.
Almost some of the evidence reported through DawgCheck for this era was in the latter category.
The university announced Tuesday that it will expand the number of loose tests administered on its tracking site to 450 per day, compared to 300. The site evaluates students, universities and staff.
The University of Georgia network has approximately 50,000 students, universities and staff.
“The growing number of positive tests for academics last week is very worrying,” said UGA President Jere W. Morehead, in a statement. ” Once I will remind academics of their vital duty to adhere to regulations designed to protect the suitability of our campuses and our local community: wear their masks, stay away from others, make sensible decisions, and stay away from social places, if necessary. is to maintain. Each of us will have to make wise decisions in the coming days and weeks to replace the trajectory, as we have noticed in other state institutions. “
The school will now check whether those reporting positive cases are in Athens or elsewhere, the Athens Banner-Herald reported. Some academics take courses at homes across the state and even in other states this semester of pandemic, and a lot of UGA employees, like those of cooperative expansion, are founded outdoors in Athens.
Another Georgia hot spot for COVID-19 remains Chattahoochee County near Columbus.
The county has the maximum fort benning, and the historic army post has community living amenities for army learners.
A list of The New York Times Wednesday counties with the number of recent cases consistent with the resident, Chattahoochee is Number 1 in the United States.
This story seems in the Georgia Recorder a partnership with Georgia Health News.
This story was originally published through Georgia Recorder. For more Georgia Recorder stories, visit GeorgiaRecorder. com.
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