COVID cases at USC nearly double to more than 1,000 since last week
The number of active COVID-19 cases at the University of South Carolina has nearly doubled since the university last announced case numbers last week.
USC has released new figures Tuesday for the number of COVID 19 cases on campus, showing a sharp jump in the number of students and faculty testing positive on campus.
The latest figures show 1,026 active cases are being tracked on the Columbia campus, all but 9 of them coming from student cases.
Between Friday and Monday, USC tested 2,318 people, 26% were positive, compared to 10% positivity rate since Aug. 1, according to USC’s website.
USC President Robert Caslen issued a statement applauding the amount of testing the school is doing, but warned students may continue to face punishment for violating quarantine or hosting large parties.
“I applaud the large number of tests we have been doing, enabling us to get same day results. It is important to identify all positive cases and take care of them,” Caslen said in the statement. “We will begin to focus our testing where we are seeing increased numbers of positives, mostly identified through our wastewater surveillance. The is science informing us and enabling us to specifically act in places that require intervention.”
Between Saturday and Monday, the number of active cases hasn’t decreased or increased by much. However, given coronavirus’ incubation period of up to 14 days, it’s unclear whether this trend will continue.
Before this most recent announcement, USC was reporting 557 cases, current as of Aug. 27. On the first day of school, Aug. 20, there were only 46 active cases on campus, according to USC’s website. USC has said it plans to update its online dashboard tracking on-campus cases every Tuesday and Friday through the semester.
Of those students getting tested on campus, 11.5% have tested positive, the numbers show. That percentage climbed to 27.7% positive for those tested between Aug. 28 and Aug. 31.
Positive cases among faculty and staff are less dramatic, but have also climbed from 1.4% of those tested since Aug. 1 to 6.8% of those tested in the previous four days.
The college was at 60% of its designated quarantine capacity on Tuesday, even as the university continued to rate its campus alert level as “low.”
While USC President Robert Caslen is confident USC’s classrooms, dorms, etc. have been safe, student behavior at off-campus parties and gatherings have raised concerns about how quickly coronavirus may be spreading at the state’s largest school and what effect that may have on Columbia and Richland County.
For example, last weekend, Columbia Fire Department was called to break up a crowded pool party — which the Columbia Fire Chief likened to Mardi Gras — at a student apartment complex near campus.
Several USC students and Greek Life organizations are already facing suspension for allegedly hosting parties, large gatherings or violating quarantine. The university increased the number of Greek houses under quarantine to nine on Monday.
The university continues to offer both students and faculty daily on-campus testing. On Monday, the line outside a Lincoln Street testing site stretched around the block.
This story was originally published September 1, 2020 at 4:46 PM.
.jpg)