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Tag: colleges
May 11, 2021
Description of a University COVID-19 Outbreak and Interventions to Disrupt Transmission Wisconsin August – October 2020
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] Genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 cases from Dane County, Wisconsin did not find evidence of onward community transmission from an outbreak at the University of Wisconsin (UW)-Madison that occurred during the first weeks of school reopening. During the outbreak, a large cluster of cases were identified in two residence halls, after which UW-Madison…
April 29, 2021
Temporal Dynamics of Viral Load and False Negative Rate Influence the Levels of Testing Necessary to Combat COVID-19 Spread
A SARS-CoV-2 transmission model calibrated to a university population with 50% asymptomatic infections suggests that temporal viral load dynamics, which account for viral loads below detectable levels prior to symptom onset, could result in false negative rates of 17-48%. The authors suggest that models that do not account for the effect of this undetectable period…
April 9, 2021
COVID-19 Stats: College and University COVID-19 Student Testing Protocols, by Mode of Instruction (N = 1,849) — United States, Spring 2021
As of March 17, 2021, a total of 899 (49%) of 1,849 public and private nonprofit 4-year U.S. colleges and universities provided some type of COVID-19 testing for asymptomatic students. A total of 548 (30%) institutions conducted classes in-person or in a hybrid format. At 389 (43%) institutions there were protocols that required periodic testing…
March 30, 2021
COVID-19 Response Strategies at Large Institutes of Higher Education in the United States: A Landscape Analysis, Fall 2020
93% of the 50 largest public and 50 largest private US institutions of higher education offered some in-person teaching for the Fall 2020 semester, according to a landscape analysis of the COVID-19 response strategies. Among those offering some in-person teaching, 71% offered a hybrid reopening structure (≥25% students on campus). Among the 93 of institutions…
March 4, 2021
Sars-Cov-2 Infection in Uk University Students: Lessons from September-December 2020 and Modelling Insights for Future Student Return
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] A modeling study suggests that student adherence to testing and isolation is likely to contribute more to reducing SARS-CoV-2 transmission than staggering return dates, based on data from the first term of the 2020/2021 academic year in universities in the UK. The authors suggest that in the presence of the more transmissible…
February 13, 2021
Comparison of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Screening Using Reverse Transcriptase-Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction or CRISPR-Based Assays in Asymptomatic College Students
Rauch et al. concluded that CRISPR-based methods appear to offer reliable SARS-CoV-2 screening based on testing 1,808 asymptomatic college students with both RT-qPCR and CRISPR-based assays. Of the nine samples that tested positive by RT-PCR, eight were also positive by CRISPR-based assays, which are cheaper to run and use lab-generated or off-the-shelf reagents, potentially alleviating…
February 5, 2021
Observed Face Mask Use at Six Universities — United States, September–November 2020
Among persons observed indoors in public settings at six universities with mask mandates, 92% wore masks correctly, according a study conducted during September–November 2020. Correct usage varied by mask type, with 97% for N95-type masks, 92% for cloth masks and 79% for bandanas, scarves, and similar face coverings. Barrios et al. (Feb 5, 2021). Observed…
January 29, 2021
Response to a COVID-19 Outbreak on a University Campus — Indiana, August 2020
After an outbreak of 371 cases of COVID-19 on an Indiana university campus, the university was able to rapidly decrease new cases and gradually return to in-person learning by implementing aggressive transmission mitigation policies. These included aggressive testing, tracing, and isolation program, switching to online instruction for 2 weeks, mandating masks and physical distancing, developing…
January 28, 2021
Performance Characteristics of BinaxNOW COVID-19 Antigen Card for Screening Asymptomatic Individuals in a University Setting
The BinaxNow Antigen Card showed low analytical sensitivity (53%) for detecting SARS-CoV-2 infection in a population of asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic individuals when compared to RT-PCR testing for SARS-CoV-2. Okoye et al. (Jan 27, 2021). Performance Characteristics of BinaxNOW COVID-19 Antigen Card for Screening Asymptomatic Individuals in a University Setting. Journal of Clinical Microbiology. https://doi.org/10.1128/JCM.03282-20
January 26, 2021
SARS-CoV-2 Control on a Large Urban College Campus Without Mass Testing
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] Testing of symptomatic students combined with a random subset of asymptomatic students at the University of Pittsburgh demonstrated a prevalence SARS-CoV-2 infection of 0.4% and a case rate of 232 per 10,000 students, comparable to the case rates of other public urban institutions that implemented mass-testing. The authors suggest that targeted testing,…
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