University President Gregory Fenves announced in a Feb. 19 email to students that Emory reported 106 new COVID-19 cases in two days, the largest surge since the pandemic’s start. Following this increase, on-campus students are now required to undergo screening tests twice per week starting Feb. 22.
Students will be required to complete their tests on either Mondays and Thursdays or Tuesdays and Fridays depending on their residence hall, a Feb. 19 email sent to undergraduate students from Associate Vice President and Executive Director of COVID-19 Response and Recovery Amir St. Clair reads.
Clairmont campus residents can only test at the Student Activity and Academic Center. Starting Monday, the Goizueta Business School will also become a testing site.
The increase comes as cases wane across Georgia and the U.S. Before the spike, Emory’s COVID-19 cases were down 26% from the last two weeks.
The case count Fenves provided contrasts with the University’s COVID-19 dashboard, which only reports 70 positive cases within the last two days.
Sharon Rabinovitz, executive director of Emory Student Health Services and St. Clair wrote in a Feb. 19 email to the Wheel that "there can be a slight delay in the updated number of positive tests reported on the dashboard because all positive results are verified through contact tracing."
According to the dashboard, the University reported 47 new cases on Wednesday, more than twice the next highest daily total since the University began tracking cases last June. On Thursday, 26 new cases were reported. The second-highest daily total occurred on Jan. 12, when 20 cases were recorded.
Of the 70 cases reported on the dashboard, 41 were off-campus and 29 were on campus. On campus, 10 cases were recorded in Raoul Hall, five cases in Harris Hall, five cases in Longstreet-Means Hall, three cases in the Woodruff Residential Center, two cases in Turman Hall and two cases in Oxford’s Fleming Hall. One case was reported in Dobbs Hall and Complex Hall.
The email notes that off-campus students who visit campus are required to be tested once per week, while faculty and staff who access campus are encouraged to undergo weekly testing.
