GV COVID-19 campus data update

The Grand Valley State University community has had a cumulative total of 7,170 cases since Aug. 1, 2020. The university’s update for this brief was from Friday, Feb. 11.

Through testing results this past week, GVSU’s Virus Action team have so far reported 244 current active cases including 21 faculty members, 43 staff members, 28 on-campus students, 78 “off-campus Ottawa” students, 54 “off-campus Kent” students and 20 “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 10 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.

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, barring a medical or religious exemption or postponement. According to the COVID-19 data dashboard, an 80% vaccination rate in the GVSU community is required to reach herd immunity and minimal virus transmission.

Currently, approximately 86% of students report being fully vaccinated, while approximately 93% of faculty and staff reports being fully vaccinated.

There are currently 2,216 students and 141 faculty/staff with approved vaccination exemptions.

Testing and Incidence: GVSU’s own testing program has performed 125,205 tests overall since Aug. 1, 2020, for a cumulative positivity rate of 2.39% from the latest update as of last week. A total of 1,379 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.

GV holds vigil for Brendan Santo

The Grand Valley State University community recently held a vigil to honor the memory of Brendan Santo. 

Santo was a freshman at GVSU and was reported missing on Oct. 29, 2021 while visiting friends at Michigan State University. 

After months of searching Santo’s body was recovered on Jan. 21, 2022 in the Red Cedar River. 

On Feb. 10 at 7 p.m. GVSU community members gathered around the Cook-Carillon clock tower on the Allendale campus to mourn the loss of Santo and comfort those around them through this challenging time.

There was an area where students could share a memory they had with Santo or write a note, which was given to his parents.