The OU COVID-19 dashboard reported a slight decrease in positive tests from the week of Jan. 13-19 as the university resumes classes for the spring semester.
According to the dashboard, 120 COVID-19 tests out of 485 total were positive during the week of Jan. 13-19, meaning 24.74 percent of the tests taken were positive. Positive case numbers have decreased from the previous week’s 134 cases.
The dashboard reported 545 students, faculty and staff members in the OU Norman Campus used the OU Healthy Together Passport on Jan. 18, the first day of the spring 2022 semester, with 172 of them not clear to return to campus. The following day, 164 users out of 478 total were not clear.
As of Jan. 19, the dashboard reported 77,828 new COVID-19 cases and 852,997 total in Oklahoma. According to The New York Times, as of Jan. 19, Cleveland County reported a daily average of 1,001 COVID-19 cases, with a 14-day positive test average of 36 percent.
The OU dashboard update follows a Jan. 20 livestream from OU Chief COVID Officer Dr. Dale Bratzler, where he emphasized the safety and reliability of COVID-19 vaccines and take-home tests and encouraged Oklahoma residents to continue wearing masks indoors to mitigate the spread of the virus. He asked Oklahomans to take positive results seriously, even if they are false positives.
OU will continue with its mask mandate in classroom settings through Jan. 31. The university will return to its fall 2021 masking guidelines on Feb. 1, pending additional guidance.
