This is Bwog’s weekly roundup of how COVID-19 is progressing in the Columbia community.

At Columbia

This week, there were 7578 students tested with 17 tests coming back positive for a 0.22% positivity rate. The positivity rate is up from last week’s positivity rate of 0.16%. 801 faculty and staff members were tested with two tests coming back positive for a 0.25% positivity rate. This positivity rate is slightly up from last week’s positivity rate of 0.11%. 5435 students at the Morningside, Manhattanville, and Lamont-Doherty campuses were tested, with seven tests coming back for a 0.13% positivity rate.

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 a CUID. Indoor capacity limits will be lifted starting November 1.

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.

At Barnard

This week, there were 1524 tests conducted with two tests coming back positive for a 0.14% positivity rate. Of the positive tests, 0.41% are non-residential students, 0.08% are residential students, and 0.00% are faculty. This week’s positivity rate is down from last week’s positivity rate of 0.23%. Eight people are in isolation, and none are in quarantine.

Since August 8th, 2020, Barnard has conducted 102,117 tests with 215 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. For all students in the week of September 20th, 6 tests came back positive out of 2,740 tests. 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

In NYC

Currently, all residents 12 and older are eligible to receive the vaccine in New York. The Food and Drug Administration met on Tuesday, October 26, 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.

In New York State, 14,364,966 residents (74.4% of the population) have received one dose of the vaccine, and 12,978,625 residents (64.9% of the population) have completed their vaccine series. In New York City, 6,939,953 residents received one dose and 6,222,524 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. The Department of Education has reached a 96% vaccination rate and NYC Health and Hospital workers have received a 95% vaccination rate. 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. 

COVID-19 Art via Ava Morouse

graphs via Flourish