Salisbury University’s COVID-19 positivity rate has seen a dramatic rise as a result of President Wight’s mandatory round of Labor Day testing, now measured at 4.3% since Aug. 11, according to the latest update to SU's coronavirus dashboard.
Wednesday’s data currently reflects a 5.7% positivity rate found over 1628 tests, just a slight decline from the nearly 6.5% positivity rate from tests administered on Monday and Tuesday.
The positivity rate for the week currently sits at 6.1%, just below that of Wicomico County as a whole at 7%, finding over 330 cases of the virus.
A positivity rate for the campus at that level, however, is enough for SU to strongly consider ceasing in-person operations and closing the campus, the SU Public Relations Office has confirmed, as 5% is the benchmark positivity rate to warrant such a move.
During his weekly virtual COVID-19 briefing Thursday, Wight cited the advice of public health officials in that “a seven-day average [positivity rate], not a single batch of tests,” is more accurate to examine “when making data-driven decisions related to COVID-19.”
Wight did note that other factors, such as SU’s “capacity for contact tracing, isolation, and taking care of people when they are sick” will have roles when considering changes to the university’s operational levels.
Thus far, SU has survived 10 days with a combination of in-person, virtual and hybrid-formatted instruction since welcoming students back to campus for the fall semester.
To monitor incoming updates and view more information on the latest COVID-19 test results, visit https://www.salisbury.edu/coronavirus/testing-info.aspx.
By JAKOB TODD
News editor
Featured image from suseagulls.com.