On Thursday, Emerson reported one positive COVID-19 test of the 682 administered Wednesday, setting the daily positivity rate at 0.15 percent.
The college also reported one community member in on-campus isolation. Zero were reported to be in on-campus quarantine.
Those in quarantine may have been exposed to COVID-19 but aren’t experiencing symptoms. Those in isolation are symptomatic, have produced a positive test, or are “reasonably known to be infected,” according to the college. Off-campus students are not counted in the quarantine and isolation numbers.
As of Jan. 3, Emerson has reported 440 positive cases and administered 27,998 tests. The cumulative positivity rate sits at 1.57 percent.
“COVID Lead” Erik Muurisepp released an email correspondence to the Emerson community Friday outlining the next reopening steps, including decreasing the testing requirement to once instead of twice per week. The updated protocol commenced Monday.
The state’s downward tick of COVID-19 cases continued on Thursday as Massachusetts reported 2,611 positive cases, with a daily positivity rate of 3.80 percent. The death toll rose to 61.
Hospitalizations went down as reported on Thursday as the state reported 1,161, with 599 of these hospitalizations occurring in those who are fully vaccinated.
The state of Massachusetts also tracks two kinds of COVID-19 positivity rates—one including higher education testing and one without. The seven-day positive rate without higher education sits at 6.88 percent as of Feb. 9. Including higher education, the rate sits at 3.80 percent as of Feb. 8.
Massachusetts reported 14,036 new vaccinations—including boosters—from Wednesday to Thursday, bringing the state’s total to 13,744,887 doses. Thursday’s daily vaccination update reported that 5,240,562 Mass. residents—according to Mass. Department of Health data, approximately 76 percent of the state’s population—are fully vaccinated, meaning that they have received both doses of the Moderna or Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Wednesday, Governor Charlie Baker announced the lift of the mandatory mask mandate in kindergarten through twelfth grade by Feb. 28. The high vaccination rate in Massachusetts was the main reason for lifting the mask mandate, cited Baker.
However Boston Mayor Michelle Wu announced the day after that Boston Public Schools would not be lifting Governor Baker’s mask mandate, and is electing to wait to see “a consistent trend of downward progress,” as young children are not being vaccinated as fast as other age groups, she said in a news conference.
Additionally, Mayor Wu announced an ease of the proof-of-vaccination rules Tuesday. The mandate will be relaxed when the city’s occupancy in the intensive care unit falls below 95 percent, the city has fewer than 200 COVID-19 hospitalizations per day and the positivity rate falls below five percent.
The Boston Public Health Commission will consider easing the mask mandate for public kindergarten through twelfth-grade schools once the same baseline requirements as relaxing the vaccination mandate is met.
In a communication released to Emerson community members, the college reported having obtained a “limited supply” of KN95 masks made by a CDC-approved manufacturer on Jan. 18 for student use. These masks can be picked up from the information office located at 172 Tremont, or the Campus Life Office, Walker 411.
Though in an email sent by Emerson College’s Chapter of the American Association of University Professors just three days after the college’s announcement reported the masks as “counterfeit,” as the union was unable to confirm the efficacy of the KN95 masks.
Emerson shifted from a manual data reporting process to an automatic one on Oct. 13. The decision followed a Beacon investigation that revealed a string of inaccuracies in the data reported by the college.
The college’s dashboard is updated daily Monday through Friday. When it was first launched in August, the college opted for weekly updates before eventually shifting to twice weekly and then daily updates. Tabs for hospitalizations and the number of “invalid” results received by community members have since been removed from the dashboard after testing began in August. Invalid results are typically a result of user error and require re-testing.
Administrators said in August the decision to remove hospitalizations was part of an effort to increase transparency, as the college was concerned it could not accurately track the metric. Invalid results were deemed “not valuable” data by “COVID Lead” Erik Muurisepp.
The dashboard is not updated on weekends because Emerson’s testing site at Tufts Medical Center is closed on Saturdays and Sundays.
