0 CommentsThis is Bwog’s weekly Roundup of how COVID is progressing in the Columbia community.
This week, there were 4756 tests conducted with 16 tests coming back positive for a 0.34% positivity rate. The positivity rate is up from last week’s positivity rate of 0.22%. 749 faculty and staff members were tested with 0 tests coming back positive for a 0.00% positivity rate. This positivity rate is down from last week’s positivity rate of 0.25%. 2877 students at the Morningside, Manhattanville, and Lamont-Doherty campuses were tested, with 12 tests coming back for a 0.42% positivity rate.
(Important note: this is a decrease of 2,558 test from last week’s 5,435 tests in students. This indicates that either far fewer students were tested or that Columbia’s data for this week is incomplete.)
This puts Columbia at the current alert level of “low risk (yellow)” which means non-academic gatherings have capacity limits and “other gatherings” are restricted. Columbia has lifted visitor/ guest restrictions in dorms and has allowed students to sign in one guest with a Green Pass and is a CUID holder. Indoor capacity limits will be lifted starting November 1st.
Columbia has not released data on how many students are in isolation and quarantine.
*Notes on the graph: Bwog calculated these positivity rates using the posted amount of positive and total tests in all students for a given week. Columbia does not differentiate graduate and undergraduate students in its count, so graduate students will be counted in the positivity rates from week to week. Numbers may change from week to week as Columbia continues to update their data.
This week, there were 3107 tests conducted with 6 tests coming back positive for a 0.14% positivity rate. Residential students had a positivity rate of 0.15%, non-residential students and faculty had a positivity rate of 0.00%, and staff had a 0.23% positivity rate. This week’s overall positivity rate is the same as last week’s positivity rate of 0.14%. However, post-Halloween, the student positivity rate is slightly higher than last week. 16 people are in isolation, and none are in quarantine.
Since August 8th, 2020, Barnard has conducted 107,261 tests with 223 being positive for a 0.21% positivity rate.
*Notes on the graph: Bwog calculated these positivity rates using the posted amount of positive and total tests in all students, residential and non-residential for a given week. Barnard does not report a positivity rate for all students so Bwog did an internal calculation. Numbers may change from week to week as Barnard continues to update their data. Check the week of Sep 13-19’s roundup for more details on how Barnard calculates their positivity rate
Over the last 28 days, the average positivity rate in NYC is 1.89%, marking a decreasing trend. However, according to the NYC Health Department, there were 814 positive cases on November 1 and 915 cases on November 7th, marking an increasing trend. (Note: NYC data from most recent dates is incomplete.)
Currently, all residents 12 and older are eligible to receive the vaccine in New York. The Food and Drug Administration met on Tuesday, October 26th, to discuss expanding eligibility to children aged 5 to 11. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has now officially recommended the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children between the ages of 5 to 11. Pfizer has asked the CDC to authorize the use of Covid booster shots for all adults, with the request likely to be granted before the holiday season. If the request is granted, the 181 million already fully vaccinated adults in the US will be able to get booster shots.
In New York State, 14,468,194 residents (75.1% of the population) have received one dose of the vaccine, and 13,059,671 residents (67.2% of the population) have completed their vaccine series. In New York City, 6,990,000 residents received one dose and 6,266,909 have completed their vaccine series. If you need help finding a vaccine appointment, try this link, this link, or your local pharmacy.
New York City is continuing to open up but with vaccine caveats. All NYC city workers, excluding uniformed correction officers, are required to have at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by 5 pm on October 29th. There are currently around 46,000 unvaccinated city employees. Those who refuse the vaccine will be placed on unpaid leave until this requirement can be met. All NYPD, FDNY, and DSNY employees will be required to have at least one dose of the vaccine by November 1st. Civilian Department of Correction officers will be subject to this mandate by December 1st. 92% of City workers are vaccinated and those who wished to be exempt from the mandate had until November 2nd to file for an exemption to avoid being placed on leave without pay during an appeals process. While around 2300 city workers received their first dose to avoid being noncompliant with the mandate, around 9000 City employees have opted to be placed on unpaid leave for failure to comply with the mandate.
As of August 17th, through the Key to NYC campaign, all vaccine-eligible residents (people 12 and older) must show proof of at least one dose of an FDA emergency-use authorized COVID-19 vaccine to be able to enjoy indoor dining, indoor fitness, and entertainment spaces. To show proof of vaccination, New Yorkers can show a photo of their CDC vaccination card, the physical CDC vaccination card, NYC COVID Safe App, Excelsior Pass/ Excelsior Pass Plus, or have a photocopy of a different immunization record that includes your healthcare provider.
Graphs via Flourish
Header Art by Ava Morouse
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