UMass reports drop in COVID-19 cases

AMHERST — The University of Massachusetts is reporting that the percentage of positive COVID-19 cases is declining among students, faculty and staff, even though 191 new cases were identified in the past week.

With spring semester classes resuming, Ann Becker and Jeffrey Hescock, co-directors of the Public Health Promotion Center, wrote a letter to the campus community this week reporting that the positivity rate dropped from 6.3%, of 6,116 tests administered the previous week, to 2.6% of the 7,394 tests between Jan. 19 and 24.

The 191 cases were fewer than half of the 387 cases the week before, and the positivity rate is only about one-quarter of the state’s 10.4% positivity rate.

Becker and Hescock write that vaccination remains the best public health measure, with on-campus vaccine clinics planned every Thursday and Friday from 3 to 6 p.m. in the Campus Center, and that KN95 masks have been distributed and will continue to be available, two per person, to faculty, staff and students.

As part of their communication, they also outlined continuing testing protocols being used.

“Our approach to testing has been one of the most rigorous and effective aspects of the university’s pandemic mitigation efforts, and that commitment continues,” they wrote.

The university’s work includes continuous testing of campus wastewater, which provides real-time assessment of infectivity, and adaptive testing, with individuals selected for participation, to catch cases. UMass offers unobserved voluntary testing for people not showing symptoms.

“These testing protocols, employed in concert with our vaccination and masking policies, are designed to create a safe environment for all, including vulnerable individuals with medical conditions, and families with young children at home who are not vaccinated,” they wrote.

They observe that those who are infected are mostly exhibiting mild to moderate illness and there are no current hospitalizations.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at [email protected].