One-hundred three positive COVID-19 cases were reported last week by St. Thomas’ Center for Well-Being Monday, a decrease of 24 from the previous week.
Ninety-one cases came from students, and 12 came from employees. Nine cases were reported from the Minneapolis campus. These numbers do not reflect all results from last week’s mass testing, according to the COVID-19 Dashboard.
“While several community members who tested positive self-reported on Friday, Nov. 20 (and are included in this week’s dashboard numbers), some results from the event were still being processed at week’s end and will be included on next week’s dashboard,” the dashboard message said.
At press time, 2,255 tests have been processed by the Minnesota Department of Health, out of 2,342 total. Currently, MDH is reporting a 3.6% positivity rate from mass testing.
Statewide, MDH is reporting 276,500 total cases out of around 3.8 million tests administered. 6,353 new cases and 24 new deaths were reported Monday.
New smartphone app
The state also rolled out a new smartphone app Monday, called “COVIDaware MN,” which notifies users if they’ve been exposed to someone that tested positive for COVID-19.
“We want to encourage all St. Thomas students, faculty and staff to download the app. The more people who adopt it, the more people will be notified of possible COVID-19 exposure,” The Center for Well-Being said in an email to the St. Thomas community. “We can help to advance the common good by being part of this statewide effort.”
The app, available on Apple and Android devices, uses Bluetooth Low Energy technology to exchange “keys” between devices, according to the app’s website. Every day, a device with the app downloads the keys associated with positive COVID-19 results, and if those keys match up with any keys on your device, the app will notify you of possible COVID-19 exposure.
The app does not use GPS, nor does it store personal information, such as your name, phone number or IP address.
Cases still “manageable”
Active cases within the community “are at the upper level of a manageable range” based on the Key Considerations to Guide Decisions on Campus Operations.
The university is reporting more than 50% availability in quarantine and isolation spaces on campus, according to the dashboard. St. Thomas contact tracers have also been able to interview 90-100% of reported positive cases within 24 hours of test results over a seven day average.
The positive COVID-19 test numbers come from tests conducted at the Center for Well-Being, self-reported tests and reports from the Minnesota Department of Health.
According to the university’s COVID-19 Preparedness Plan, individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 “are expected to stay home until they have been fever-free for 72 hours (without use of medicine that reduces fever) and at least 10 days have passed since symptoms first appeared and other symptoms have improved.”
The plan also requires 14 days of quarantine for community members who have had close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.
St. Thomas releases weekly COVID-19 data on Mondays, which can be found on the university’s COVID-19 Dashboard.
Justin Amaker can be reached at justin.amaker@stthomas.edu.
Maggie Stout can be reached at maggie.stout@stthomas.edu.