The University of Arizona Virtual University COVID-19 Status Update Team met on Monday to discuss the start of Phase 3, a new variant of COVID-19 on campus, and new COVID-19 data.
UA will begin phase three of re-entry this week. Classes of 100 or fewer students, referred to as “personal” or “flex personal”, may meet for a face-to-face lesson.
UA President Dr. Robert C. Robbins reminded viewers that the university will continue to require face covers on campus and will continue to enforce all other COVID-19 mitigation policies.
“I cannot stress this enough,” said Robbins. “We are in the fourth quarter of this term and we have to do what we did. It was so successful and got us to that point.”
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That plea comes four days after Arizona Governor Doug Ducey signed an executive order phasing out the continued enforcement of local mask mandates and instead calling on Arizonans to “act responsibly.” Robbins clarified that this arrangement does not apply to the university’s guidelines.
CONNECTED: Governor Ducey lifts remaining COVID-19 restrictions, Tucson Mayor continues with mask mandate
“We’ll keep the games in our playbook because they were so successful,” said Robbins. “And I really ask everyone to be team players and join us.” It worked. We will keep doing it. “
UA has administered a total of 102,734 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine as of March 27. Of those vaccinated at the UA Point of Distribution, 22.6% identify themselves as Hispanic or Latinx.
A screenshot of the most recent COVID-19 vaccine administration data, reflecting the UA Point of Distribution, has dispensed over 102,000 vaccine doses since January 15, 2021.
From March 18-27, UA performed 11,379 COVID-19 tests, which produced 39 positive results – a positivity rate of 0.3%.
Screenshot of the most recent COVID-19 test result data showing a 0.3% positivity rate from over 11,000 tests spread over a 10-day period.
Last week, the COVID-19 transmission rate rose slightly from 0.75 in the previous week in the university’s zip code area to 0.77. The Rt at the district level decreased from 0.80 the previous week to 0.77.
Screenshot of recent transfer rate readings showing a slight increase in the university zip code and a slight decrease in Pima County since last week.
The director of the task force, Dr. Richard Carmona, reaffirmed the President’s commitment to public health enforcement.
“It looks like our public health practices are working,” said Carmona. “We still have some problems and we won’t be complacent, but we’re glad we look a lot better. If you look at our transmission values …[Transmission is] up a little, but below 1.0. You are really good. Until we eradicate portability, this is unacceptable and we must adhere to public health best practices. “
The Campus Area Response Team was deployed in four large gathering incidents last week, up from eight incidents the previous week. None of these incidents was a gathering of 100 or more people – an improvement on the previous weeks – but one was a gathering of 50-99 people.
Screenshot of recent CART deployments indicating a decrease in large gathering deployments in the past week.
Dr. Michael Worobey, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UA, joined the team to discuss the new variants of COVID-19 emerging in the US
“Just two weeks ago, I collected samples from eight subjects as part of an IRB-approved research study from the University of Arizona that I’ve been conducting for several months,” said Worobey. “When we sequenced the genomes, not only did all of the samples give genomes, which we don’t normally see … but all 8 gave viral genomes, and we believe that B.1.1.7 caused higher viral loads, and all 8 were B.1.1. 7th Six of the eight were symptomatic, which is a higher number than classic versions of the virus. We believe again that this is related to the clinically higher hospital stays and mortality rates. “
UA announced on Thursday March 25th that variant B.1.1.7 (UK) of COVID-19 had been discovered on campus. This variant is 50% more transmissible and the symptoms of the virus are more severe.
The status update team will meet again next Monday, April 5th.
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https://azgovernor.gov/governor/news/2021/03/arizona-hits-3-million-vaccine-doses-administered-governor-ducey-announces-new
https://view.comms.arizona.edu/?qs=fba9d4c9e039d7302605b08445284f46f64ea2535d5dccc6a91ece54d0e580c129c52b377b832e9ca19cff
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