Cal Poly released COVID-19 testing data, Thursday, Sept. 24.
Since March 2020, the Cal Poly Health Center has tested 978 students with COVID-19 symptoms, and 86 of these students tested positive. This accounts for an 8.8 percent positive test rate, according to a campus-wide email from the Office of the President.
Since late August, the Health Center has tested 2,691 asymptomatic students, and 11 tested positive, which is a 0.4 percent positivity rate, the email read.
“That is terrific news for everyone,” President Jeffrey Armstrong wrote. “But it does not mean that the danger is passed.”
Food science professor and epidemiology expert Aydin Nazmi developed Cal Poly’s COVID-19 response plan in accordance with local experts in infectious diseases, the email read.
Experts from the Cal Poly Center for Applications in Biotechnology are working to develop a saliva-based COVID-19 test and wastewater analysis for early detection of COVID-19, the email read.
An increase in asymptotic testing and early detection practices will be used to slow the spread of COVID-19 in the campus community, the email read.
Both of these practices are expected to launch Winter 2021.
While San Luis Obispo has not seen an extreme increase in cases, students are still advised to avoid gatherings and engage in active social distancing, the email read.
“I know that it has required some of you to postpone plans, decline invitations and work harder to do things that are usually easy,” Armstrong wrote. “I am profoundly grateful for the care that you have taken of yourselves, each other and the community as a whole.”
