The University of Washington reports another surge in COVID-19 cases as students begin the spring semester

When many college students return to campus in the spring semester, some Washington schools have reported a surge in COVID-19 cases, urging the community to stay vigilant.

University of Washington officials expect an increase in infections among students, university spokesman Victor Balta said Tuesday morning. According to Barta, students who test positive do not attend specific events or activities, but rather recent trips, restaurant visits, and meeting friends and family.

According to UW’s COVID-19 tracking dashboard, 48 cases have been reported in the last 10 days, all affecting students enrolled in the university’s Seattle campus. Recent tally has boosted the infection rate of the Husky Coronavirus test program to 1.3% over the past seven days, more than double the cumulative infection rate of the program, 0.6%.

The program, which completed 2,388 tests last week, is using the Seattle Influenza Study and started in September.

Barta said the incident did not appear to be contagious on campus and that the majority of students lived off campus and were taking classes in remote areas.

The Associated Press reported 30 positive COVID-19 cases involving dormitory students last week at Western Washington University in Bellingham.

The school said more contact tracing was needed to determine the cause of the increase. According to the school’s COVID-19 dashboard, there were 49 positive results in 13,291 tests in western Washington. This is an increase from 38 positive results in 13,749 tests in the fall quarter.

According to AP, Washington State University school administrators said last week that student gatherings and parties that ignored basic health and safety protocols directly led to an increase in COVID-19 cases. Whitman County Public Health reported 73 infections in the county (all under the age of 40) over the weekend, bringing the county to a total of 3,852 cases.

“Our numbers are surprisingly high,” WSU officials said in a Friday letter. “This is unacceptable. We potentially put our community and vulnerable people at higher risk.”

The statement indicated that inadequate decisions, including student decisions, could bring Whitman County back to Phase 2 or 1 of the reopening plan.

Also on Friday, Whitman County Public Health urged county residents to avoid social gatherings and other situations that increased the risk of exposure to COVID-19. Authorities cited a recent increase in local COVID-19 activity.

This is the latest surge in incidents at state colleges.

In October, Governor Jay Inslee created a new limit to limit student indoor meetings. In particular, it is intended for outbreaks in higher education institutions, including the Greek column at the University of Washington. At the time, Inslee said there were 35 outbreaks at the University of Washington, with more than 800 related to social gatherings and student living spaces.

Nationally, some universities are planning to encourage students to be vaccinated as the state expands its eligibility requirements, hoping to make campuses safer by the fall. In Washington, students are still rarely eligible for vaccines, but people over the age of 16 are eligible for injections by May 1, state officials confirmed last week.

In Texas, people over the age of 16 have begun vaccination this week. Officials at the University of Texas at Austin have told students who want to receive the vaccine through the school to register online so they can start making appointments. Rutgers University in New Jersey has determined that vaccination can be required and requires full vaccination for students planning to attend directly in the fall semester, except for students with medical or religious reasons. ..

The Associated Press and Washington Post material was used in this story.