GV COVID-19 campus data update

The GVSU community has had a cumulative total of 2,624 COVID-19 cases since Aug. 1. The university’s update for this brief was from Friday, March 19.  

Through testing results this past week, GVSU’s Virus Action team have so far reported 60 current active cases including three members of faculty, four staff member, 18 on-campus students, 27 “off-campus Ottawa” students, six “off-campus Kent” students and two “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 64,879 tests overall since August 21, for a cumulative positivity rate of 1.31% 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.

The Virus Action Team update expands campus testing after an increase in cases 

The Virus Action released that there has been a continual increase in COVID-19 cases in March. They reported in the release that there has been an average of six new cases a day in the GVSU community. In February, there were only an average of two new cases a day. Out of the new cases this week, about one-third of the cases are on-campus residential students.

To help combat the spread of the virus, GVSU is expanding its student testing. weekly invitations for free antigen tests online will now be sent to students taking in-person classes, students who live on or near campus, and other students who are expected to be on campus in some capacity. Faculty and staff will still have the same invitation process as before. 

The second GVSU Presidential Roundtable will discuss the media’s role in politics

GVSU President Philomena V. Mantella and former presidents Thomas Haas, Mark Murray, and Arend Lubbers will be joined by two national reporters for the next GVSU Presidential Roundtable.  The virtual event will be held at 7 p.m. on March 22. 

The media’s role in the election will be the topic of discussion for this roundtable. Astead W. Herndon, New York Times national politics reporter, and Lisa Desjardins, CNN political analyst will be included in the conversation.