Despite Ohio spikes, OSU numbers low

University able to hold its case positivity rate below 1%

As new coronavirus cases continue to climb across Ohio, the state’s largest university is holding its positivity rate below 1% as it completes its ninth week of the semester.

In a report released Thursday, Ohio State’s Comprehensive Monitoring Team, which assesses patterns, trends and emerging concerns regarding the pandemic, estimated the transmission of the virus on campus continues to slow. The effective reproduction number over time, or Rt, (the average number of people to whom a single person passes the infection) has remained stable, Ohio State’s report said, typically falling below 1 beginning Sept. 12.

After an initial spike when the semester began in late August, COVID-19 cases among Ohio State students — both on campus and off — have been trending downward. After the positivity rate peaked at 6.5% among off-campus students in early September, it has remained below 1% for the entire month of October. Among students living on campus, positivity rates have been below 1% since late September, after peaking at 5% earlier that month.

What’s worked

The university’s success so far in managing the spread of COVID-19 on campus is due to a wide array of factors,

said Amy Fairchild, dean of Ohio State’s College of Public Health, who leads the comprehensive monitoring team.

“There’s no one thing. It’s not testing, it’s not masks, it’s not social distancing, it’s not contact tracing, it’s not isolation, quarantine,” she said. “It’s that it’s all of those things in combination.”

Although Ohio continues to break its previous records for coronavirus cases reported in a single day, Ohio State offi

cials said they are not seeing signs of similar upticks in the virus on campus.

Ohio State’s testing strategy and efforts to isolate and quarantine affected individuals have helped keep the virus numbers low, said Dr. William Miller, senior associate dean for research within the College of Public Health, who is also on the comprehensive monitoring team.

PHOTOS BY FRED SQUILLANTE/COLUMBUS DISPATCH A student prepares to be tested Thursday at the Jesse Owens North Recreation Center on the Ohio State University campus.

After an initial spike when the semester began, COVID-19 cases among Ohio State students — both on campus and off — have been trending downward.