The University of Idaho has identified several coronavirus hot spots on Greek Row. UI President Scott Green updated the campus community about the situation in an email on Monday.
Recent campus testing conducted by the UI found several hot spots on Greek Row leading to 8 houses being placed in quarantine. Last week’s positivity rate for coronavirus testing at the UI increased to nearly 12% confirming 67 new cases. About 1% of the total UI campus community population in Moscow has currently tested positive.
Green says that public health officials believe the university’s campus protocols are still working and they have not identified any classroom transmissions. Green has informed faculty that they can move their classes online this week. The UI will decide on Friday if they need to move the entire institution to online classes for the next 2 weeks following results from broader testing.
The UI currently has 72 students who tested positive for coronavirus in isolation. Green says their on-campus isolation facility has over 170 beds. Officials at Gritman Medical Center in Moscow have told the UI that they still have plenty of capacity.
The positivity rate for coronavirus at the UI so far this Fall is nearly 2% with 191 positives among faculty, staff, and students since testing began in mid-August. The UI returned to a mix of in-person classroom and online instruction this Fall.