Coronavirus: UD reports COVID-19 outbreaks among students in residence halls

DAYTON — The University of Dayton reported an increase of COVID-19 cases mostly in the campus' five largest residence halls, university officials said in an email to campus members Thursday.

Most of the cases have been reported in halls that house primarily first and second year students, including Marycrest, Founders, and Stuart halls, UD officials said.

However despite the increase in cases the university did not raise their campus alert level, which remains at “Level 2” for localized. UD officials said they believe the outbreaks have been isolated and contained “with a high degree of confidence.”

“In addition to positive results from students who are symptomatic, we are also detecting a number of positive cases from asymptomatic students through random testing as well as in targeted surveillance testing of defined areas of the residence halls, such as a floor or a section of a floor. As we would expect from targeted testing, and as we observed in late August, we are seeing an increase in both the number of cases and the positivity rate,” university officials said in the statement to campus members.

In the latest report issued Wednesday, UD reported 23 new cases which brought the active cases number to 74. The seven day positivity rate was 1.9 percent as of Wednesday.

“We continue to be aggressive about identifying and isolating positive cases as well as their close contacts, and we continue to encourage students to go home to quarantine or isolate if they are able to do so safely. If you develop symptoms, we ask you to promptly make an appointment to be evaluated,” UD leaders said.

Cox Media Group