Boston College surpassed its all-time record for COVID-19 cases on campus for the second week in a row, with 394 undergraduates testing positive out of 7,158 tests this past week—a positivity rate of 5.5 percent—according to the BC Forward website.
The University also surpassed 1,000 undergraduate COVID-19 cases on campus this semester, reporting 1,320 total cases since pre-semester testing began on Jan. 10. In the fall semester, BC recorded 502 undergraduate cases overall.
BC’s undergraduate positivity rate increased .58 percent from the week prior, which saw a positivity rate of 4.92 percent. BC also reported a non-undergraduate positivity rate of 1.52 percent, with 22 cases out of 1,444 tests this past week.
The temporary mask mandate on campus—announced on Jan. 5 amid a nationwide surge of the Omicron variant—expired last Tuesday. Barring any changes to the University’s current COVID-19 policy, BC is one of the only colleges in the Boston area to not have an indoor mask mandate on campus.
Several nearby universities have announced changes as they transition to an “endemic” phase of the pandemic.
Northeastern University, for example, suspended its isolation housing for students who test positive for COVID-19.
Harvard University also announced on Jan. 12 that it would stop providing isolation housing and halt its contact tracing program.
Though BC’s positivity rate slightly increased again this week, Massachusetts’ seven-day positivity rate—six percent as of Thursday—has been decreasing since Jan. 11, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Featured Image by Nicole Vagra / Heights Editor
