High Street near 12th Avenue the night of Ohio State’s Oct. 31 game against Penn State. Credit: Christian Harsa | Assistant Photo Editor
On the eve of Ohio State’s third game of the COVID-19-delayed football season — and after two weekends of large gatherings in the campus area during the previous two — the number of daily new positive COVID-19 tests has doubled.
For the week of Oct. 23-31, students averaged 28 positive tests per day. On Monday, 60 students tested positive for COVID-19; Tuesday, 64 students and Wednesday, 57 students. The average positivity rate of those three days is 2.11 percent.
In an email to students Friday, Dr. Gladys Gibbs, director of Student Health Services, and Amy Fairchild, dean of the College of Public Health, urged students to follow COVID-19 guidelines and limit gatherings to fewer than 10 people — ideally with just roommates.
“We also strongly urge students living on campus to stay on campus this weekend, especially as you cheer on the Buckeyes when they face Rutgers tomorrow night,” the email stated.
This comes after many large gatherings occurred in the campus area during the Oct. 24 game against Nebraska and Oct. 31 game against Penn State.
Bars along High Street are busy on game day. pic.twitter.com/30gcyRkpiZ
— The Lantern (@TheLantern) November 1, 2020
Ohio State’s single-day off-campus COVID-19 positivity rate for Wednesday is 2.31 percent. The off-campus seven-day average positivity rate previously stayed below 1.5 percent for the entire month of October — at or below 1 percent for all students. The single-day all-student positivity rates Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were all above 1.5 percent.
These increases come as the state of Ohio and the United States continue to set record numbers of new COVID-19 cases.
Ohio reported 5,008 new cases Friday, the first time the metric has surpassed 5,000, according to the Ohio Department of Health’s website. It broke the previous record of 4,961, which was set Thursday. Thursday’s case count broke the record of Tuesday, which was 4,229 new cases. Wednesday’s new case count also was greater than 4,000.
The United States has reported more than 90,000 new cases per day since Monday.
The email from Gibbs and Fairchild stated that students should remain cautious of COVID-19 spread before traveling for holidays.
“We must act not only for ourselves and our campus community, but for the health and safety of friends and family we may be visiting in the coming weeks,” the email stated.
