GV COVID-19 campus data update

The GVSU community has had a cumulative total of 3,430 cases since Aug. 1, 2020. The university’s update for this brief was from Thursday, August 26.

Through testing results this past week, GVSU’s Virus Action team have so far reported 47 current active cases including three faculty members, six staff members, three on-campus students, 17 “off-campus Ottawa” students, 15 “off-campus Kent” students and three “off-campus other” students 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 89,932 tests overall since August 21, 2021, for a cumulative positivity rate of 1.35% from the latest update as of last week. A total of 437 tests were performed over the last seven days.

“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.

Vaccination: GVSU encourages all students, faculty and staff to receive the COVID-19 vaccination as soon as possible. All students, faculty and staff are required to be fully vaccinated by Sept.30, barring a medical or religious exemption or postponement. According to the COVID-19 data dashboard, 80% vaccination rate in the GVSU community is required to reach herd immunity and minimal virus transmission.

Currently, approximately 47% of students report being fully vaccinated, while approximately 88% of faculty and staff reports being fully vaccinated.

Campus Dining returns to “near normal”

Campus Dining is planning to return to “near normal” operations this fall, director of Campus Dining Paul Kramer said at the August 19 virtual town hall. Fresh Food Company, Connection, Kleiner, Panda Express, Subway and the Lobby Shop in Kirhoff Center are open on the Allendale campus, as well as Starbucks and Seidman Cafe on the Pew campus. Several locations remain closed until fully staffed, such as Fuel in Commons and Fusion in Kirhoff center. Campus Dining will follow all health department guidelines as it pertains to food safety and COVID, masks are required in dining areas but may be removed while eating or drinking, according to the Lakers Together website.