Campus coronavirus roundup, 4.19.21: An increase at U of I, decreases on several other sites

Coronavirus case numbers fell sharply on several Idaho college campuses this week — including Brigham Young University-Idaho, Boise State University and Idaho State University.

An increase occurred at the University of Idaho, however. In an April 12 memo, President C. Scott Green and Provost Torrey Lawrence attributed the increase, in part, to an unspecified “small pocket of cases that has been addressed.”

Here is this week’s campus roundup:

Increasing

University of Idaho. The U of I reported 21 cases for the week ending April 9, up from 12 cases the previous week.

As the U of I resumed “surveillance testing” on campus, positive test rates climbed to 3.2 percent, up from 1.2 percent.

Since August, the U of I has reported 855 positive test results.

North Idaho College. Five self-reported cases last week, all involving students, up from a total of four cases the previous week. Since July, 315 students and employees have self-reported a positive test.

Northwest Nazarene University. Three new cases last week, after two successive weeks of no cases. Two of the cases involved residential students and the third involved a non-residential student. Fourteen people were under stay-at-home directives Friday. NNU has logged a total of 249 cases.

College of Western Idaho. CWI has reported three new cases, and a total of three cases for the month of April. CWI has reported 31 cases since January.

College of Southern Idaho. Two new cases on campus, one involving a student. CSI reported one case the previous week. Since August, the college has reported 279 cases, including 220 involving students.

Decreasing

Boise State University. Fourteen cases for the seven-day period ending Thursday, down from 27 cases from the previous week. Eleven of the new cases involved off-campus students, two involve residential students and one involves an employee.

In other mixed metrics, the test positivity rate climbed to 2.7 percent, up from 1.4 percent, but just one of 153 campus isolation beds was in use Friday, down from eight the previous week.

Since August, Boise State has reported 1,561 campus cases.

Idaho State University. For the seven-day period ending Tuesday, ISU reported nine new cases, down from 18 the previous week. Seven of the new cases occurred on the main campus in Pocatello; six cases involved students.

ISU was investigating one new case cluster, involving three off-campus students.

Idaho State has reported a total of 1,137 cases for the school year.

Brigham Young University-Idaho. Another sharp decrease: On Sunday, BYU-Idaho reported two active cases involving students, down from a total of 12 active cases on April 11.

For the school year, BYU-Idaho has reported 2,568 cases, including 789 cases this semester.

The College of Idaho. No new cases. The C of I has reported 112 positive tests for the school year. 

Flat

Lewis-Clark State College. For the fourth straight week, Lewis-Clark reported only one active case, involving a student. No students were in isolation housing.

Lewis-Clark has reported 26 cases since Jan. 4.

Other

College of Eastern Idaho. No current report.

Check Kevin Richert’s blog each Friday for a weekly roundup of statewide coronavirus trends.

 

Kevin Richert

Kevin Richert

Senior reporter and blogger Kevin Richert specializes in education politics and education policy. He has more than 30 years of experience in Idaho journalism. He is a frequent guest on "Idaho Reports" on Idaho Public Television and "Idaho Matters" on Boise State Public Radio. Follow Kevin on Twitter: @KevinRichert. He can be reached at [email protected]

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