After a record number of COVID-19 cases on the Texas A&M campus last week, with the highest positivity rate thus far, the positivity rate has shown a slight decrease.
The positivity rate of campus for the week ending Jan. 29 decreased to 25.1% positive cases out of 3,801 total tests, compared to the 25.5% rate for the previous week. The overall positivity rate for the spring semester has climbed to 24.6%, the highest rate of a semester yet, followed by fall 2020 with a rate of 7.2% — a difference of 17.4%.
This week, the university reminded students and faculty they are required to self-report cases to the online form upon receiving a positive COVID-19 test and should not attend any in-person classes or activities until the end of their required period of isolation.
According to a Jan. 28 university-wide email, students who need to miss class due to a positive result will need to notify professors by forwarding their Curative kiosk test, uploading test results from a doctor, off-site location or a photo of a take-home test, which will need to be confirmed by the Operations Center.
“Exposed individuals should follow the same process if they are requesting an excused absence: Report through the portal and you will receive an email from the COVID-19 Operations Center to share with instructors,” the email reads.
Vaccines are still being offered at Student Health Services daily with appointment, and the Texas A&M Health Maroon Line Clinic continues to offer pop-up vaccine clinics in the Rudder exhibit hall on Thursday, Feb. 3 and Friday, Feb. 11 from 12-4 p.m. each day.
For community members looking to obtain the free KN95 masks offered by the White House, both H-E-B and Kroger have gathered supplies to hand out to individuals. Everyone is allotted three masks, which can be picked up at H-E-B pharmacies and on displays at Kroger.