University of Nebraska Reports 2,011 Positive Cases of COVID-19

The University of Nebraska–Lincoln has registered 2,011 positive cases of COVID-19 during the week of January 14-20, the university has announced in its weekly testing report.

In the same period, some 17,710 tests were completed on students and employees, with the positivity rate during the week standing at 11.4 percent, Erudera.com reports.

Students, faculty, and staff have performed COVID-19 tests through the university’s saliva-based reentry testing program, the University Health Center as well as off-campus medical facilities.

Nebraska-Lincoln began COVID-19 testing on August 15, 2020, and since then, a total of 293,187 tests have been completed among the university’s community, out of which 8,312 positive cases of COVID-19.

To protect its community during Spring Semester 2022, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln has required its students and employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to be able to return to campus and continue in-person studies.

The university notes on its website that a selection of students, faculty, and staff will take place every week for random mitigation testing. University officials will then send emails to students selected for random testing, asking them to schedule a test between Sundays and Wednesdays at any open campus testing location.

According to Nebraska, the aim of the random testing program is to allow the institution to isolate positive cases and also maintain asymptomatic cases across campus.

Students, faculty, and staff who have received two doses of COVID-19 vaccines, can voluntarily submit their vaccination status at the Voluntary COVID-19 Vaccine Registry.

This month, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln required their faculty, staff, and student employees returning to campus to complete COVID-19 tests between January 9 and January 13, whereas the deadline for students was January 21.

Moreover, students living in residence halls and Greek houses were asked to test between January 14 and 17.

“If selected, your Safer Community app will show the need for a new test in the “next steps” section, and those who have enabled push notifications on their app will receive a notice,” the university said.

So far, 80 percent of the Nebraska-Lincoln campus community is vaccinated against COVID-19 who have reported their status through the registry. On January 20, there were 224 positive cases, out of 2,069 total tests completed.

The University of Nebraska–Lincoln said that in case of any development or increase in COVID-19 cases among the university’s community, the university “may return to a broader testing strategy.”