The University of California at Berkeley on Sunday morning issued an advisory confirming a surge in student COVID-19 cases, “including students who live in campus housing.”
The university posted the advisory at 9 a.m. and updated it at 11 a.m. to note that “All residential students were sent a message about how to help reduce virus transmission in the community.”
The university’s novel coronavirus dashboard shows that 44 people tested positive on Saturday, representing 3.2% of the 1,362 tests analyzed.
For the period from Aug. 30 through Jan. 30 the university has seen 544 confirmed cases, with a positivity rate of 0.4%.
“We are now seeing a need to quarantine more students because they were exposed to the virus,” the university said in the advisory.
“It is critical and required by current public health orders, that you do not attend indoor gatherings — large or small — with people outside your household. Even if you think it is safe, it probably is not.”
In July, the university experienced a similar surge, with 47 new cases reported in one week linked to parties and small inside gatherings, officials said.
Contact tracing and quarantine/isolation management are being done by University Health Services, which is reaching out to students who have been exposed.