Pictured Above: USF System COVID-19 cases hit an all-time high of 111 during the week of Sept. 14. Before Aug. 24, USF did not report weekly case totals.
Patrick Tobin | The Crow’s Nest
By Mark Parker
Health officials warned months ago that the country could see a surge in COVID-19 cases in fall and winter, and as we approach Thanksgiving break, it appears they were right.
Last week, the U.S. broke a number of records pertaining to the virus, and on Nov. 19, the state recorded over 9,000 new cases – the highest total since August and marking the eighth consecutive daily increase, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Cases and hospitalizations have risen in St. Petersburg, although not to the levels of the state as a whole. However, USF St. Petersburg has not seen the same increase. In the week of Oct. 19 there was a slight uptick from one case to three, followed by two weeks with two cases. There has not been a case reported since the week of Nov. 2.
“I think the school has responded in the best way that they could, especially given the mixed responses at the state and federal levels,” said Aliah Farley, a senior mass communications major. “They really took the initiative to look after students and the community when everyone else was hesitating or too nervous to make any definitive moves.”
Dean of Students Jacob Diaz echoed Farley’s comments.
He stressed that we could not have come this far relatively unscathed without the diligence of the faculty and students. He told students to “stay the course.”
The number of students in isolation has also remained low.
For the week of Nov. 9, there was only one student in isolation. Students are asked to isolate if they have tested positive for COVID-19, or have come in close contact with someone that has.
The Sarasota-Manatee campus, which does not have on-campus housing, has also only had a handful of students test positive since the beginning of October. The campus reported only one case for the week of Nov. 9.
The much larger Tampa campus has reported between 29 and 61 known cases each week since the beginning of October. Cases are down from a high of 111 known cases the week of Sept. 14.
Since the first case was reported to the university on March 18, USF St. Petersburg recorded 24 cases, the Sarasota-Manatee campus recorded 12, and the Tampa campus recorded 885. That makes the total for the USF system 921 cases, according to USF’s COVID-19 tracking website.
The New York Times college tracker, which tracks case totals at colleges and universities across the country reports 899 cases in the USF system. The Times tracker is useful when comparing cases between universities, but tends to lag slightly behind reporting by the institutions themselves.
By both metrics USF’s numbers are well below other state universities. The University of Florida has reported 5,008 cases, the University of Central Florida reported 2,100 and Florida State University is at 1,738 according to the Times college tracker.
At a Board of Trustees meeting on Nov. 10, USF President Steve Currall gave praise to the student body.
“The university has been relatively successful containing (COVID-19), and probably the primary reason for that is the great responsibility and discipline our students have shown.”
Students are appreciative that the school has taken the necessary steps to keep numbers low.
“Throughout the whole response, it felt like we were all in this together, students, teachers and staff,” Farley said. “I never felt left behind or forgotten about… I really appreciated USF’s commitment to safety. They didn’t wait to transition online when the pandemic began and they didn’t hesitate to push fall and spring classes online either.”
There is hope that help may soon be on the way.
Florida is set to receive two different vaccines in a few weeks, both with 95 percent effectiveness. Tampa General Hospital has been tapped as one of just five hospitals in the state to receive and store the vaccines.
Diaz said he realizes that during the breaks it is natural for students to want to be around friends and family they may not have seen in months, but he is worried about the prospects of coming back in January with a spike in cases.
As for vaccines on the horizon, he felt it was too early to tell what effect that will have. Healthcare workers, first-responders and the most vulnerable will be the first to receive the vaccine when it is made available. Healthy students will be in the last group to be eligible.
“It is important to not get complacent, stay the course,” Diaz said.Visit the university website for USF COVID-19 updates and follow the New York Times tracker for the national count.
