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

At Columbia

This week, there were 3212 tests conducted with 39 tests coming back positive for a 1.21% positivity rate. The positivity rate is up from last week’s positivity rate of 1.01%. 555 faculty and staff members were tested with two tests coming back positive for a 0.36% positivity rate. 1928 students at the Morningside, Manhattanville, and Lamont-Doherty campuses were tested, with 32 tests coming back for a 1.66% positivity rate. This puts Columbia at the current alert level of “low risk (green)”. All gatherings are allowed with no capacity restrictions. Starting March 14, masking indoors will become optional and symptom attestations will be eliminated.

Columbia has not released data on how many students are in isolation and quarantine.

Graphs represent student positivity rates, not overall.

*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 2970 tests conducted with 44 tests coming back positive for a 1.58% positivity rate. The positivity rate is up from last week’s positivity rate of 0.73%. Residential students had a positivity rate of 1.40%, non-residential students had a positivity rate of 1.30%, faculty had a positivity rate of 0.13%, and staff had a positivity rate of 0.10%. 38 people have started isolation. Barnard has not released data on how many students are in quarantine.

Since August 8, 2020, Barnard has conducted 153,811 tests with 673 being positive for a 0.44% positivity rate.

Barnard will be lifting mask mandates two weeks after Columbia, on March 28. Unlike Columbia, however, daily symptom attestation will still be required.

Graphs represent student positivity rates, not overall.

*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 20, six 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

In New York City, there is a daily average of 489 confirmed cases of COVID-19. 8,016,834 residents received one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and 7,104,830 have completed their vaccine series. 

NYC Mayor Adams has announced that starting Monday, March 7, vaccine mandates would be lifted on the condition that COVID-19 cases continue trending downward. The Key to NYC program has also been suspended, meaning mask mandates will be lifted in public schools for K-12 students. Indoor mask mandates have been lifted statewide since February 10, though businesses are allowed to enforce mask mandates as they see fit. Both decisions are in accordance with CDC guidelines suggesting 70% of Americans will not be required to wear masks based on new risk assessment measures. Mayor Adams has also announced lifting mask mandates in schools. However, masks will continue to be required on public transportation, including rideshare services, as required by the federal government. Employees are also still required to be vaccinated unless given reasonable accommodations.

Currently, all residents five and older are eligible to receive the vaccine in New York after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has officially authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children between the ages of five to 11. All NYC adults are eligible for the COVID-19 Booster Shot. If you need help finding a vaccine appointment, try this link, this link, or your local pharmacy.

Graphs via Flourish

Header Art by Ava Morouse