The Oct. 12 COVID-19 Dashboard update revealed that caseload on campus has remained low.  From Oct. 5-11, 416 tests were administered to symptomatic and randomly selected asymptomatic students, resulting in only 4 positive cases. This reflects a 0.96% positivity rate, a decrease from the previous week’s 2.42% positivity rate.

Despite a decrease in positive cases, 51 students are currently in quarantine, an increase from the 49 students in quarantine last week. 20 of the 51 students are quarantined on campus, increasing on-campus quarantine space utilization from 11% last week to 17% this week.  

In addition to the 416 student tests, four employee tests were administered, resulting in no positive cases. 

Beyond Furman, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) released updated disease metrics, showing the two-week cumulative incidence rate increased from 170 to 198 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 individuals. This week also revealed the first stable trend in cumulative incidence rate since the Dashboard added DHEC metrics on Sept. 14. 

The two-week percent positive rate in Greenville County has slightly decreased, but only to 11.3%, which is still classified as “high” by DHEC. The acute hospital bed occupancy in the Upstate has increased to 77% from 73%. 

In short, after another week of random testing, Furman’s positivity rate decreased. However, in the Greenville area, COVID-19 cases seem stuck at a relatively high percent positive rate.