COVID cases rise among Cal Poly students. Are they ‘unintentionally spreading’ virus?
Cal Poly recently saw a “concerning rise” in coronavirus cases among students, the San Luis Obispo university said in a campuswide email sent Friday to students, faculty and staff,
The message, from by Keith Humphrey, vice president for student affairs and Shayna Lynch, Associated Students, Inc. president, noted that the increase in cases came from asymptomatic students who could be “unintentionally spreading the virus through interactions with fellow students.”
Humphey and Lynch urged students to “remain diligent” about taking precautions to prevent the spread of the disease,
On Thursday and Friday, Cal Poly reported a total of 70 additional COVID-19 cases among students — 13 reported on campus, six off campus and 51 through the university’s “ongoing testing program.”
The testing program is conducted through Avellino Lab USA, an outside company contracted by the university. All students going to campus for any reason, or living with someone who does go to campus, must get tested twice weekly by Avellino.
Cal Poly does not report whether the students tested by Avellino are living on or off campus.
Students who do not adhere to the testing requirements may face sanctions by the university, including losing access to their email, online classes, Zoom, the Health Center portal, library services, student pay, timesheet services and more, according to a COVID-19 presidential order by Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong on Dec. 17.
In total, 1,246 students at Cal Poly have tested positive for the virus since March 2020. Of those, 358 tested positive since Jan. 4, the start of the university’s winter quarter.
On average, Cal Poly has added about 32 cases every weekday since its winter quarter began — not including Jan. 13, where the university reported a decrease of 53 cases.
As of Friday, 73 students were in isolation dorms on campus at Cal Poly, and 620 were ordered to quarantine. The isolation and quarantine measures are enforced by the San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department in conjunction with the university.
On Friday, the same day that the university told the campus community about the increase in cases, Avellino tested 1,215 students. That means that about 4.2% of those Avellino tests were positive.
Avellino has the capacity to test around 1,920 students a day, according to university spokesman Matt Lazier.
Also on Friday, the university at its Campus Health Center lab tested 207 students. Of those, 19 came back positive for coronavirus — meaning that about 9.2% of those tests were positive.
San Luis Obispo County’s seven-day positivity rate average was at 7.6% as of Monday, according to the California Department of Public Health.
Students who are symptomatic are not allowed to be tested by Avellino and are instead encouraged to get tested at the Campus Health Center, according to the university. Avellino tests the bulk of the asymptomatic students at the university.
The university said that the students tested by Avellino “didn’t think they had COVID-19 at the time of their test.”
“Testing is only part of the equation for safeguarding yourselves and our campus community,” the university wrote in its campuswide message. “A negative test represents a single point in time and does not mean that a student cannot go on to develop, carry and spread the disease. More importantly, a negative test is not a free pass to set aside precautions.”
“Now, more than ever, it is critical that we all remain diligent about taking precautions to limit the spread of disease — regardless of the outcome of recent tests,” the university added.
In its communication to the campus, Cal Poly wrote that students should “recommit to being vigilant” and wear a face covering when around others, maintain a six-foot distance from others, sanitize hands regularly and avoid gatherings with people who don’t live in the same household.
Local community members recently expressed concerns that Cal Poly would see another jump in coronavirus cases, as it did in the fall of 2020.
“All the (COVID-19) testing in the world won’t change (the students’) behavior,” Morro Bay resident Chris Lawing told The Tribune. “If they don’t follow simple guidelines like wearing masks, they’re putting our kids, our families and our community at risk.”
This story was originally published January 25, 2021 at 12:57 PM.
