Fifty-eight positive COVID-19 tests were reported last week by St. Thomas’ Center for Well-Being Monday, an increase of 11 from the previous week.

The totals include two employees, four individuals from the Minneapolis campus and 25 from the St. John Vianney College Seminary, where students there have been ordered to quarantine.

“Additionally, the total includes all self-reported positive tests resulting from last Tuesday’s mass testing event on campus, which was open to the entire university community; the event’s total positivity rate was 1.8% out of 603 administered tests,” the COVID-19 Dashboard message said.

The dashboard message reminded students, faculty and staff to report positive COVID-19 tests if they spend time on campus. Students, faculty and staff can report at these links.

Another mass testing opportunity will be available for community members Thursday, Dec. 17. Those interested can sign up for a time slot here.

Statewide, the Minnesota Department of Health is reporting 381,841 positive COVID-19 cases. 3,026 new cases and 18 deaths were reported Monday. 4.9 million tests have been administered statewide.

On campus, the dashboard continues to report no evidence of transmission in classrooms or labs, with more than 50% availability of quarantine and isolation spaces on campus.The contact tracing team is still able to interview 90-100% of reported positive cases within 24 hours over a seven day average.

The number of positive cases remain in a manageable range based on those factors, the dashboard message said.

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.