The number of UF-affiliated staff and students in quarantine dropped to its lowest count since the start of the Spring semester.
Since Thursday, 242 individuals finished isolating, bringing the current number down to 819. In turn, on-campus quarantines for students increased to 93% availability on Tuesday.
Campus-based COVID-19 testing reported 2,304 negative and 32 positive results on Monday. The seven-day positivity rate fluctuates between 1-2%, according to the testing dashboard.
Since the start of COVID-19 tracking, 5,984 UF students have tested positive for the virus — an increase of another 203 since last Monday. The total is now 1,057 since Jan. 11, while 195 UF employees tested positive during that time.
While UF's positivity rate may look minimal, there are still about 50 to 70 cases a day, Dr. Michael Lauzardo, the head of UF Health’s Screen, Test and Protect program, said Friday at a Ben Hill Griffin stadium vaccination event.
“Most of that’s driven by usually indoor activities that are unmasked,” he said. “So usually parties, usually eating, but more often drinking and going out.”
UF Health Shands Hospital had 5.77% adult ICU availability (15 beds) and North Florida Regional Medical Center had 16.67% (8 beds), according to the AHCA of Florida on Tuesday.
This article has been updated to reflect that 5,984 UF students have tested positive for the virus since the start of COVID-19 tracking. The Alligator initially reported otherwise.
Contact Manny Rea at mrea@alligator.org. Follow him on Twitter @ReaManny.
Manny Rea is a journalism sophomore and the current health reporter for The Alligator. He worked as a copy editor in his freshman year before moving over to the Avenue in summer 2020. He likes to listen to dollar-bin records and read comics, and he is patiently waiting to go back to movies and concerts.
