GV COVID-19 campus data update

The Grand Valley State University community has had a cumulative total of 5,340 cases since Aug. 1, 2020. The university’s update for this brief was from Friday, Jan. 7.

Through testing results this past week, GVSU’s Virus Action team have so far reported 467 current active cases including 17 faculty members, 51 staff members, 67 on-campus students, 188 “off-campus Ottawa” students, 127 “off-campus Kent” students and 17 “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 81% of students report being fully vaccinated, while approximately 92% of faculty and staff reports being fully vaccinated.

There are currently 2,381 students and 148 faculty/staff with approved vaccination exemptions.

Testing and Incidence: GVSU’s own testing program has performed 115,768 tests overall since Aug. 1, 2020, for a cumulative positivity rate of 16.77% from the latest update as of last week. A total of 495 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.

Downtown Grand Rapids Inc. begins to track air quality

Downtown Grand Rapids Inc. (DGRI) recently began a new pilot program tracking air quality in Downtown Grand Rapids and nearby neighborhoods. 

JustAir sensors have been set up around the area to measure air quality in neighborhoods, and give the community an ability to see, measure and report the air quality in their area. 

Due to there being differences in air quality between neighborhoods, JustAir hopes to use the data collected by the sensors to find ways to improve air quality for all.

To sign up for alerts concerning local air quality or to view a dashboard or recent hourly air quality index, people are welcome to explore the JustAir Grand Rapids website, found linked in DGRI’s website.