As of 6 p.m. Wednesday Oct. 13, there are 8 confirmed COVID-19 cases in students from the UC Santa Cruz community. For more information, please visit UCSC’s Tracking COVID-19 website.
Since the onset of the fall 2021 quarter, The UCSC Molecular Diagnostic lab has reported a .19 percent positivity rate for COVID-19 cases of students and faculty, on and off campus. There are currently 52 students in isolation, on and off campus.
“Our combination of having a highly vaccinated community, regular asymptomatic testing, and wearing face masks indoors is proving to be effective,” said Executive Director of University Communications Scott Hernandez-Jason in an email. “We have not identified any COVID-19 cases through community spread.”
Student Health Center nurse and COVID-19 response team member Debbi Saint John said that the health center team believes that COVID-19 protocols enforced on our campus, and the students’ adherence to them, are maintaining UCSC’s low positivity rate.
Although numbers remain low and 96 percent of UCSC students are fully vaccinated, COVID-19 has not disappeared completely.
“The majority of our cases are in fully vaccinated people,” Saint John said in an email. “Don’t assume if you are vaccinated you do not have COVID.”
For positive cases in fully vaccinated people, Saint John described most symptoms to be mild. She emphasized that the vaccines are beneficial in preventing extreme illness resulting in hospitalization or loss of life.
Saint John said that individuals on campus should continue to follow campus protocol, wear masks, wash hands, get vaccinated, allow good ventilation, and get tested as required.
“Everyone should remain vigilant,” Saint John said. “COVID is still here.”
To stay updated on current UCSC COVID-19 numbers, visit the Slug Strong tracking site here.
