GV COVID-19 campus data update

The GVSU community has had a cumulative total of 3,824 cases since Aug. 1, 2020. The university’s update for this brief was from Friday, Oct. 8.

Through testing results this past week, GVSU’s Virus Action team have so far reported 75 current active cases including four faculty members, five staff members, 7 on-campus students, 26 “off-campus Ottawa” students, 29 “off-campus Kent” students and four “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 99,364 tests overall since August 1, 2020, for a cumulative positivity rate of 1.37% from the latest update as of last week. A total of 1,365 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 78% of students report being fully vaccinated, while approximately 88% of faculty and staff reports being fully vaccinated.

Fall 2021 commencement  

Grand Valley State University announced that the Fall 2021 Commencement ceremony in person on Dec. 10 and 11. The date is determined by which college the student is graduating from.

While the ceremony will take place in person, it is not without changes and safety precautions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

There will be no student procession, but students will be permitted to walk across the stage to receive their diplomas. The deans will welcome each individual college and the names of graduates will be displayed. Each student will be allowed to invite up to four guests to attend their ceremony.

GVSU, Allendale formalize working relationship

President Philomena V. Mantella and Allendale Township Supervisor Adam Elenbaas have established a committee of township leaders to intended to share information about the township. Members of the committee include Allendale Schools Superintendent Garth Cooper and Chamber of Commerce Director Summer Reitsma. GVSU is represented by Rence Meredith, assistant vice president for Facilities Services.

The committee will meet monthly, following its initial meeting where the university discussed support for the Allendale Fire Department.