UConn Storrs Campus Has More Than 2 Dozen New Coronavirus Cases

STORRS, CT — As all of UConn's dorms and residential buildings are under quarantine, the university reported late Friday that there are 7 new on-campus positive COVID-19 cases in Storrs and 24 new off-campus positive cases, also in Storrs. Among the new positive cases, eight were already in quarantine.

According to data on its COVID-19 tracking dashboard, which provides information about the results of tests on its students and employees, it was noted that there is also one new employee positive case.

UConn is also reporting that in addition to the new cases, students in isolation on campus with positive and/or symptomatic cases number 62. To date for the fall semester, the confirmed number of positive Storrs residential student cases is 288. The university said that the current positive test rate among UConn Storrs residential students: 1.24 percent

The dashboard also contains a link to daily and historical student testing data.

Information on Ongoing Testing

UConn continues to test hundreds of students on a regular day as part of ongoing surveillance efforts. This surveillance includes testing for randomly selected students, as well as asymptomatic on- or off-campus Storrs students who request a test as a precaution.

UConn also continues testing wastewater from several on-campus spots to assess the presence of COVID-19 virus as a way to predict and limit the potential scope of outbreak.

Working with the UConn Institute for System Genomics and MARS lab (Microbial Analysis, Research and Services), UConn Student Health and Wellness has launched a pooled sampling method that significantly increases the speed and volume of testing. Students provide a saliva sample in a tube, which is pooled with other samples to create one large batch for testing. If the pooled sample is negative, all students in that pool are deemed negative; if it is positive, the students in the pool are tested individually.