Active COVID-19 cases within the ASU community increased to a total of 104 as of Oct. 19, according to an update released Monday.
The total number of active cases has increased by five since last Thursday's update when the University reported there were 99 active cases. Active student cases have increased to 93, and active employee cases have increased to 11.
There are 74 active student cases off campus in the metropolitan Phoenix area, 18 in isolation on the Tempe campus and the remaining one case is located on either the Downtown Phoenix, West or Polytechnic campuses.
ASU reported there have been 2,055 cumulative cases in the ASU community since Aug. 1. Students make up 2,009 of the cumulative cases, and employees account for 46 cases. Last Thursday, the University reported the number of cumulative cases had surpassed 2,000.
Cumulative cases have increased by 31 since Thursday's reported cumulative total of 2,024 cases.
ASU has collected approximately 91,121 tests from students and employees since Aug. 1. The University has tested 69% of on-campus students and 30% of off-campus students since the start of the semester, according to the update.
The ASU community's percent positivity rate is roughly 2.2%, using the cumulative number of positive results as the numerator and the total number of tests collected as the denominator. The percent positivity rate represents the level of transmission of the virus and if the testing is effective.
Since Aug. 27, the University has conducted 23,191 random tests of students and employees, 3,205 of them from Oct. 11-17.
Random test results from Oct. 11-17 show two on-campus students tested positive, resulting in a positivity rate of 0.26%. Off-campus student tests returned nine positives, resulting in a positivity rate of 0.43%. One employee tested positive with a random test over that seven day period, resulting in a 0.29% positivity rate.
The University also reported Monday 2,208 students and 161 employees had been rolled off the active case list, therefore, meeting guidelines to return to campus. The University does not require those who test positive to then test negative before returning to in-person activities on campus or in the community.
The Arizona Department of Health Services reported 748 new positive coronavirus cases and three more deaths Monday, bringing the state totals to 231,897 total cases and 5,830 deaths.
The University does not specify if there have been any hospitalizations or deaths of ASU students or faculty in its report.
Reach the reporter at pjhanse1@asu.edu and follow @piperjhansen on Twitter.
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Piper Hansen is the digital editor-in-chief at The State Press, overseeing all digital content. Joining SP in Spring 2020, she has covered student government, housing and COVID-19. She has previously written about state politics for The Arizona Republic and the Arizona Capitol Times and covers social justice for Cronkite News.
