COVID-19 Dashboard Spring 2021

Cases
The term "case" is used to refer to a campus member with a positive diagnostic test result.

Positive Cases
The term "positive cases" reflects students currently in isolation at University of Puget Sound with a positive diagnostic test result or a faculty/staff member currently not reporting to work on campus because of a positive diagnostic test result. "Positive Student Cases Off Campus" excludes students studying remotely.  

Testing Strategy
We required a seven-day quarantine for all students at the onset of the spring semester (except those participating entirely remotely with no in-person interaction with other campus members), and each student needed to provide two negative tests before leaving quarantine. Students will continue to be tested at least twice a week throughout the spring semester. Faculty and staff members also are tested up to twice a week, depending on the nature and frequency of their work on campus. Testing results are typically available within 24–48 hours.

Tests
Test results reflect University of Puget Sound-administered saliva PCR tests for asymptomatic testing, nasal PCR tests for students with COVID-19 symptoms, and antigen tests for students needing additional or alternative testing for reasons such as engagement in athletic competition or due to a prior COVID-19 diagnosis.

Testing Pools
Asymptomatic testing is being provided using saliva-based PCR pooled testing, which pools saliva samples into groups of 24 and surveys the whole pool for COVID-19. If a pool is "not detected," this means that no COVID-19 has been found in that pool. The pool is cleared, and those in it are free to continue approved campus activities. If a pool is "detected," COVID-19 has been found, but this does not mean that all 24 individuals in the pool are COVID-19 positive. Further processing of the samples making up the pool needs to occur. The individuals in the "detected" pool will quarantine until the lab is able to isolate the individual who is COVID-19 positive, which typically takes 12to 24 hours. 

The health and well-being of the Puget Sound community is of paramount importance as the university navigates the COVID-19 pandemic. University of Puget Sound considers a range of factors in making decisions related to the university’s overall response to COVID-19, including the following:

• Proclamations and guidance issued by Gov. Inslee
• Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department guidance and recommendations 
• CDC guidance
• COVID-19 prevalence on campus
• COVID-19 prevalence in Pierce County and across the state and nation
• Availability of testing, including testing material
• Percentage of students in isolation or quarantine on campus and the number of available isolation and quarantine beds
• Percentage of faculty and staff members in isolation or quarantine
• Contact tracing capacity and effectiveness
• Access to personal protective equipment (PPE)
• Effectiveness of a wide range of COVID-19 risk-mitigation protocols

For more information about the university's response to COVID-19, visit pugetsound.edu/coronavirus.

To view information and statistics by county and statewide, visit the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department Coronavirus website and the Washington State Department of Health 2019 Novel Coronavirus Outbreak page. 

If you have questions related to this dashboard, please contact Kelly Brown, director of Counseling, Health, and Wellness Services, at 253.879.1555.