Twenty-two positive COVID-19 tests were reported last week by the University of St. Thomas’ Center For Well-Being Monday, an increase of five from last week. This marks the third week in a row in which the case count remained below 25.

Four cases came from employees — the highest employee spike thus far. Three cases came from the Minneapolis campus, with the rest coming from students.

“The Center for Well-Being advises the slight increase in cases within the community is in line with statewide increases in Minnesota,” this week’s COVID-19 Dashboard message said.

The Minnesota Department of Health reported 153,620 cases statewide and 2,954 new cases as of Monday. Around 2.9 million tests have been administered so far.

The Center for Well-Being COVID-19 test results are generally available within three days, but “there are reports of longer wait times,” according to the dashboard.

As of last week, there continues to be no evidence of classroom or lab transmission, and active cases within the community remain manageable based on the Key Considerations to Guide Decisions on Campus Operations. The contact tracing team is also not seeing any evidence of transmission between faculty or staff.

The university is reporting more than 50% availability in quarantine and isolation spaces on campus and testing supplies and personal protective equipment on campus remain at sufficient levels. Contact tracers also remain available to interview between 90 and 100% of positive cases reported within 24 hours of test results.

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.

COVID-19 data is released by St. Thomas weekly on Mondays and can be found on the university’s COVID-19 Dashboard.

Justin Amaker can be reached at justin.amaker@stthomas.edu.
Joey Swanson can be reached at swan5350@stthomas.edu.
Maggie Stout can be reached at maggie.stout@stthomas.edu.