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UC San Diego said 245 of its students had tested positive for the coronavirus since the start of the winter term on Jan.4 – the kind of surge the university avoided last fall thanks to a major campaign of testing and education called “Return to Learn”.
University data shows that 109 of those students live at UCSD, which has one of the most comprehensive virus testing programs in academia. The other 136 students live off campus in the San Diego area. UCSD also said 61 of its employees have tested positive for the virus.
Eighty-five percent “of infected students on campus have gone home for vacation and tested positive during the incubation period following their return,” said Dr. Robert T. “Chip” Schooley, a professor. medicine that helps start Return to Learn.
“Our interpretation is that they acquired the virus from the community during the break. Coming home during a raging pandemic is a dangerous thing. The campus case rate is now dropping to pre-rupture levels as we work on infections that have returned from the winter break.
About 7,300 students currently live on campus, a number the university hopes to increase significantly by early February.
Fewer than 40 students tested positive for the virus last fall when students moved into campus dormitories.
Robbins writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.
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