GV COVID-19 campus data update

The GVSU community has had a cumulative total of 2,275 COVID-19 cases since Aug. 1. The university’s update for this brief was from Friday, Feb. 12.  

Through testing results this past week, GVSU’s Virus Action team have so far reported 35 current active cases including 1 faculty member case, 3 staff members, 3 on-campus students, 16 “off-campus Ottawa” students, 9 “off-campus Kent” students and 3 “off-campus other” student with active COVID-19 cases.

“Current active cases” is the count of positive cases reported to the Virus Action Team over the past ten days.  This is an estimate of those currently in isolation, assuming a ten-day symptomatic period following the reporting of a positive test result. Actual periods of isolation are specific to the individual and determined by the county health department.

Testing and Incidence: GVSU’s own testing program has performed 48,094 tests overall since August 21, for a cumulative positivity rate of 1.72% from the latest update as of last week.

“GV Surveillance” includes the GV/Spectrum administered programs of: randomized testing, regular testing of high-risk groups, and invited testing of individuals connected to potential clusters. A calendar is available. “GV Total” includes surveillance testing plus all symptomatic/exposure tests administered by Spectrum.

Virus Action Team updates on campus COVID-19 conditions

Due to another lull in new COVID-19 cases, GVSU has moved back to Alert Level 2. Level 2 is labeled the “Moderate Level.”

At this level, the virus impacts GVSU’s systems and resources, however, support services, testing and contact tracing capacites are capable of meeting demands. The Virus Action Team is also able to now expand their testing and contact tracing program. 

In their most recent update, The Virus Action Team thanked the members of the community who have followed guidelines in effort to limit the spread of the virus. The team asks for the community to continue wearing masks, completing the self assessment and avoiding large gatherings. The community is also encouraged to participate in on-campus testing.

GV Counseling Center offers supportive environment for Black students

The University Counseling Center is holding one of their “Let’s Talk: Black Mental Health & Wellness” events for the GVSU community Monday, Feb. 15 from 5-6 p.m. The event is on a drop-in basis and invites students to attend as many as they would like, whether it is once or weekly. 

The purpose of the drop-in events are to provide a safe space for Black students to talk about their educational and personal experiences. The University Counseling Center aims for the event to be a supportive atmosphere for students to be brave about talking about things they might not be comfortable talking about in other spaces.