Emerson’s Wellness Center received 176 self-reports of positive COVID-19 tests during the month of September, but according to a Friday morning email statement from Associate Director of Community Health and Engagement Christina Paris, the college is not concerned about the rates of infection.

Although dozens of students reported being sick with COVID last month, Emerson’s Health Services, Tufts Medical Center, and the Boston Public Health Department determined that the infection rate at the college is similar to other campuses in the area, Paris wrote.

After the end of the Spring 2022 semester, the college did away with once-a-week COVID surveillance testing and shifted to a symptomatic-only testing model with a form for students to self report positive tests. This, in turn, eliminated the daily COVID-19 dashboard, which would update daily pending the results of each testing group.

Friday’s report was the first official indicator of how the infection has been spreading on campus. Paris reminded community members to continue reporting their tests to the college if they are positive so that Health Services can properly track transmission patterns.

The One Emerson page on the college’s website contains information about COVID policies as well as the self-reporting form, Paris wrote.