Rutgers releases weekly health update with coronavirus testing results

Rutgers officials released the first Weekly University Health Update yesterday to announce coronavirus disease (COVID-19) testing results from Aug. 23 to Aug. 29. 

In that week, the University performed 2,859 COVID-19 tests, with 2,855 negative results and two positive results, according to the email. The weekly proportion positivity rate was .07 percent and two of the tests came back inconclusive, according to the University’s Testing Program Dashboard.

The University has performed 18,569 COVID-19 tests since May, with a 99.27 percent negative results and .51 percent positive results, according to the dashboard. 

The health update included reminders to wear face coverings, stay 6 feet apart from others, practice hand washing and cooperate with contact tracers. The email also includes links to each school’s operating status as well as the official Rutgers testing strategy. 

The University is offering tests to “specified groups of employees and students who are working and learning on campus” based on the risk of transmission, meaning the tests are not required for all students and employees, according to the testing strategy site. 

Risk factors include the ability to maintain physical distancing while completing activities on campus, working or learning in a patient-care environment, exposure to a confirmed COVID-19 case, living in congregate housing like residence halls, working or learning in an environment with high-risk individuals or other factors, according to the site. 

All students living in on-campus housing had to take a test one to three weeks prior to moving in, with a second test conducted upon arrival, according to the site. The University will offer a test to, but not require it from, those who have been exposed to someone with COVID-19. 

Anyone who tests positive is expected to self-isolate for at least 10 days and comply with contact tracers from Occupational or Student Health as well as the local health department, according to the site. Asymptomatic individuals who tested positive through the University testing program will be notified by Occupational or Student Health as to when they are cleared to leave isolation, and symptomatic individuals should get a letter of clearance from their physician, according to the site.