Active COVID-19 cases continue to decrease within the ASU community as cumulative cases near 6,000 among students and employees.
The University reported a total of 537 active cases as of Monday, a decrease of 76 cases since Thursday’s total of 613 active cases.
Recent data show the University is reporting fewer active cases than it was at this point last semester.
Compared to the University peak of 983 cases reached by the second week of the Fall 2020 semester, this spring semester ended its second week with 613 active cases.
Since Jan. 1, the University has reported 1,405 cumulative cases reported out of the more than 27,667 tests administered. ASU has a positivity rate of roughly 5.08% this semester, barely reaching the recommended 5% threshold indicating the spread of the virus is under control.
Of the cases since Jan.1, 1,170 are students and 235 are employees. The total number of cumulative cases since Aug. 1 is 5,910 within the ASU community.
The Arizona Department of Health Services dashboard reports a total of 452,925 confirmed cases in Maricopa County. The state reported 5,321 new cases Monday.
With a total of 722,574 confirmed cases statewide, Arizona continues to yield the highest rate of average daily COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people, according to data from The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Downtown Phoenix testing location closed for repairs
The COVID-19 testing location at the AE England building on the Downtown Phoenix campus will be closed from Jan. 23 to Jan. 31 for facility repairs, per the ASU Health Services portal.
The University has not released further information regarding what students registered at the location must do until the location opens up again. A University spokesperson did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Internal tracking of ADHS ZIP code data done by The State Press reports a total of 851 cases in the ZIP code 85004 as of Monday, where the ASU Downtown Phoenix campus is located.
SDFC receives 1,000 vaccines to distribute weekly
The Sun Devil Fitness Complex on the Tempe campus opened last week as a vaccination center after the University received an allocated 1,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses to administer weekly from the state.
The site opened on Jan. 22 and is set to distribute vaccines to eligible recipients including healthcare practitioners, health care support workers, lab workers and those over 65.
The University has not reported the total number of ASU community members who have been vaccinated. Approximately 11,500 ASU community members are eligible to receive the vaccine as of Jan. 13.
Students who volunteer three or more shifts to assist in vaccination distribution at the SDFC "will be able to get the COVID vaccine while on site," according to an email obtained by The State Press from ASU's human resources and University Business Services departments.
However, more than 450 volunteer slots have been filled at the site as of Jan. 22, filling the schedule through March, a University spokesperson wrote in an email.
Reach the reporter at sreyes23@asu.edu and follow @r_salma_ on Twitter.
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