University of Michigan adds off-campus testing to COVID dashboard resulting in ‘significant increase’ of reported cases

Dashboard now shows off-campus, one campus cumulative numbers

A cluster of COVID-19 cases were reported at the South Quad residence hall on Sept. 18. (University of Michigan)

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – On Thursday, the University of Michigan added outside testing to its COVID-19 dashboard resulting in an increase in the number of positive cases reported.

The dashboard reflects cases in students, faculty, staff and alumni on the Ann Arbor campus and now includes cases from outside testing and U-M testing.

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“University officials have seen a significant increase in positive cases this week with the majority of the increase the result of students being tested at off-campus facilities," states an update on the dashboard. "The university is working closely with the Washtenaw County Health Department, which will start temporarily managing the off-campus cases and providing contact tracing.”

The majority of the cases come from clusters involving students living in off-campus, collective residences, according to the update.

The dashboard now lists cases for each residence hall.

On Thursday, Sept. 18, a cluster of 19 COVID-19 positive cases was confirmed to be on the sixth and eighth floors in South Quad. Residents on the two floors underwent mandatory testing with approximately 220 residents testing negative.

The total positive cases for South Quad is now at 23 as of Sept. 19.

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Residence hall data for the dashboard is obtained from the Washtenaw County Health Department (WCHD) and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services with verification from the Michigan Disease Surveillance System. It will be updated weekly with each week starting on a Sunday.

Data from the WCHD starts from Aug. 13 forward.

There have been 84 positive COVID-19 tests at the university since Monday, Sept. 20, and 449 positives since March 8. The school has performed over 19,000 tests since the start of term, according to the dashboard.

Information on the dashboard is also pulled from University Health Service and Occupational Health Services.

Testing from before students arrived the Ann Arbor campus is not included in the cumulative numbers.

Find the U-M COVID-19 Dashboard here.

Related: University of Michigan to ramp up asymptomatic, saliva-based COVID-19 testing in October


About the Author:

Sarah has worked for WDIV since June 2018. She covers community events, good eats and small businesses in Ann Arbor and has a Master's degree in Applied Linguistics from Grand Valley State University.