The University reported 304 known positive COVID-19 cases within its community Monday, 276 of which were students and 28 were faculty and staff.
The number of cases decreased about 2.6% compared to last week’s report of 312 cases.
Out of the students who have tested positive, 235 are living off campus in the metropolitan Phoenix area. There are 35 students in isolation on the Tempe campus, and six students are in isolation across the Downtown Phoenix, West and Polytechnic campuses.
Since Aug. 2, the University has conducted a total of 26,673 tests, which is 5,686 more than last week’s report. Since Aug. 1, the University has reported 677 positive COVID-19 cases, which is a roughly 2.5% positivity rate.
The University conducted a total of 1,989 random saliva tests among students and employees from Sept. 6 to Sept. 12. Of the collected samples, 1,559 came from students and 430 came from faculty. There were a total of 26 tests that came back positive.
As of Monday, the Arizona Department of Health Services reported 2,278 new positive COVID-19 cases and no new deaths.
Last week, the Biden administration announced it will be creating a rule requiring companies with more than 100 employees to vaccinate or conduct weekly testing on their employees. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration would need to approve any rule submitted by the administration.
According to University spokesperson Chris Fiscus, around 85% of faculty and 80% of staff are vaccinated against COVID-19.
Since the University does not require proof of vaccinations, ASU does not have enough data to publish overall student vaccination rate, Fiscus wrote.
In an optional survey given to first-year students at orientation, about 60% to 65% of respondents said they were vaccinated, according to a University spokesperson.
"We are confident that more than half of our students are vaccinated – and we believe it could be much higher. But we really don’t have reliable data," Fiscus said in an email. "That’s why we encourage students to upload their proof of vaccination, and that’s why we continue to encourage students to get vaccinated for free on campus."
Reach the reporter at jkabiri@asu.edu and follow @jasminekabiri on Twitter.
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Jasmine Kabiri is the assignment editor at The State Press, overseeing and editing stories produced by the six digital desks. She has previously worked as a reporter at The Daily Camera and Cronkite News.
