COLUMBIA, S.C. — The University of South Carolina has surpassed 1,000 active student cases according to the latest number released on their COVID-19 monitor webpage.
The data has been updated as of August 31. The university releases its new data on Tuesday and Friday.
As of August 31, there are a total of 1,026 active cases, with 1,017 of those being students. On their last update, with numbers as of August 27, there were 553 active student cases with 4 employees.
According to the numbers, there was a spike of new cases on August 29. There were a total of 302 new cases that day.
Since August 1 there have been 1,192 total reported cases. According to the university, they are at 60% capacity for designated space on campus for students to isolate and quarantine.
Still, the school said on a call with reporters Tuesday that the virus cases have all been come from group gatherings, and that there doesn't appear to be evidence of general spread on campus. They said contact tracers have been able to reach 88 percent of infected students within 24 hours.
The schools says the cases have been either asymptomatic or mild symptoms and have not led to hospitalizations.
“I applaud the large number of tests we have been doing, enabling us to get same day results. It is important to identify all positive cases and take care of them," said school President Bob Caslen in a statement. "We will begin to focus our testing where we are seeing increased numbers of positives, mostly identified through our wastewater surveillance. The is science informing us and enabling us to specifically act in places that require intervention. We will continue to focus and hold students accountable for behavior. Nevertheless, the recent leveling is encouraging, as well as the minimal spread from the student population to faculty, staff and into the community.”
The university has also reached alert level 'one' according to their online monitor. Things that affect this alert level are testing, supplies, capacity, and impact on operations.
To view detailed data concerning testing and results, click here.
On Monday, University of South Carolina announced interim suspensions to 15 students and six Greek organizations related to the ongoing rise in coronavirus cases on campus.
The school said Monday afternoon the citations are for breaking student conduct rules, specifically for hosting unauthorized parties or large gatherings in violation of local ordinances or violating quarantine. The school had previously announced these penalties were possible for students.
The suspension means they will be barred from campus and classes until the resolution of the case by the university.
The school had said last week that six of the large fraternities and sororities at the school's Greek Village off Blossom Street were quarantined because students there had tested positive for the virus. On Monday, they added three more to that list, bringing the total to nine.
on Saturday, the city of Columbia shut down a large pool party at the Palmetto Compress Apartments near the USC campus. Those units are about a quarter mile from the entrance of the Greek Village and just under a mile from the heart of campus. While non-students can live there, many USC students rent there.
Columbia Fire Chief Aubrey Jenkins said he arrived just before 6 p.m. to find at least 200 people at the pool not wearing a mask and failing to practice social distancing.