According to FAU, there are 41 students and one employee that have tested positive for COVID-19 since the start of the fall semester.

Nine days ago, the University Press received numbers from Media Relations saying that there were three students and zero employees that have tested positive for the virus. Whether that was the three FAU football players who tested positive that had to pause practices, remains to be seen.

However, in total, that is a 38 person differential in little more than a week.

FAU Spokesperson Joshua Glanzer commented on the new numbers released, saying that besides the number of positive cases, it’s still lower than most universities in the state of Florida. 

“Our confirmed caseload is still very low compared to other state schools,” Glanzer said. “Continued following of our protocols will go a long way to keep numbers down.”

Compared to other universities, the University of Miami has 263 cases, the University of Florida has over 300 cases, Florida State University has 853 cases, and for Florida International University, their last report ending on Sept. 6 had 11 positive cases.

The FAU page with coronavirus updates has added a new feature that refreshes the numbers every 30 minutes using Microsoft Power BI, a business analytics service. On Tuesday, the student number was at 39 cases with the employee case staying at one. 

“As far as the numbers that are populated in the dashboard on the FAU coronavirus page, they are automatically updated roughly every 30 minutes,” Glanzer said. “And come from positive test results that have been directly reported or recorded to Student Health Services.”

The website’s most recent update from Sept. 8 reported about testing, contact tracing, and about the ways students can approach the university if they have any questions, or would want to report if they have the virus or have been in contact with someone that has it.  

It also directs visitors to the 25-page reopening plan that was passed by the Florida Board of Governors on Jun. 23 that explains “a detailed virus testing program and contact tracing protocol to promote a healthy and safe learning and working environment.” 

Additionally, it has the location of the Boca Raton Student Health Services office that offers walk-up testing for asymptomatic individuals Thursday through Monday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., but if the person has symptoms, they “are not permitted to have testing at the walk-up site unless they have been referred by a member of the FAU SHS clinical team.”

The phone numbers for the three clinic locations on each campus can be found here:

• Boca Raton: 561-297-3512
• Davie: 954-236-1556
• Jupiter: 561-799-8678

Zachary Weinberger is the Editor-in-Chief of the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him @ZachWeinberger.