BREAKING, Sept. 16 at 9 p.m. – DU’s COVID-19 Coordinator Sarah Watamura announced nine positive coronavirus tests on campus in an email to the DU community on Wednesday, Sept. 16, at 7:20 p.m. The Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment (CDPHE) notified DU of these three “outbreaks,” a term defined by the organization as “two confirmed connected cases in a facility (or building).” Under this definition, the CDPHE identified three “outbreaks” on campus, each with three positive tests.
Watamura’s update did not specify where the cases are located on campus for preservation of confidentiality. However, contract tracing on campus enabled DU to notify all students who may have come into contact with the positive individuals to quarantine in their rooms for 14 days.
The email also informed the DU community that the students are now in Hilltop Apartments, the designated isolation space. She also stated that the isolated students are receiving meals and access to medical and mental health services.
These new “outbreaks” are not the first positive coronavirus tests on campus since students arrived in early September for the new school year. DU’s COVID-19 tracing dashboard indicates 62 positive tests in the past seven days. However, the overall positivity rate for the university remains low in the “green zone.” It has been at 1.87% since Sept. 2.
In alignment with previous calls to action, Watamura encouraged students to download Everbridge, a smartphone application DU is using for contract tracing. It was just made available on Tuesday, Sept. 15. Through this app, students, staff and faculty can complete daily symptom checks and requests to be on campus.
DU encourages students to download Everbridge to further contact tracing efforts through its “Bluetooth proximity tracking” mechanism. DU has ensured the community that allowing Everbridge to use Bluetooth does not operate like GPS tracking and “simply make[s] note when you are near another person (within a certain distance and length of time) who also has the Everbridge app.”
University COVID-19 task forces have specified they chose Everbridge due to its secure privacy ratings. Instructions for downloading the app are found here.
Compared to other major Colorado universities, DU’s coronavirus cases remain low. CU Boulder, amid recent rises in cases, mandated all students to a 14-day quarantine on Tuesday. The Denver Channel reported that “the school has had [a] daily case increase of more than 50” for six days since Sept. 6.
Colorado College (CC) also recently announced it will be holding the rest of the fall semester online amid high positive caseloads. Only days after arriving on campus, CC had to lockdown its entire Loomis Dorm home to more than 150 students. The 14-day dorm-wide quarantine occurred after students reportedly “did not follow the college’s social distancing guidelines” and caught the virus from one student who tested positive in the building. Two other dorms, South Hall and Mathias Hall, were also forced to quarantine shortly after Loomis with cases of their own. This has led to in-person instruction closure.
At DU, COVID-19 protocols on-campus have not changed after the announcement of the “outbreaks.” Watamura encouraged continued practices of wearing a mask, washing hands, sanitizing personal spaces and physical distancing.
For resources, protocol and updates on coronavirus cases at DU, see the following resources:
