Missouri State announces 141 positives among those tested for COVID-19 last week
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story misstated there was a 56% positive test rate. The positive rate is unable to be calculated because not all of the 141 who tested positive were among the 251 tested on campus. Some were tested off-campus.
More than 140 Missouri State University students, faculty and staff who were tested for the coronavirus in the last week have been diagnosed with the disease, university officials announced Monday.
Of 251 on-campus and an unspecified number of off-campus tests administered between Aug. 17 and Sunday, 141 came back positive, according to the university website.
Not everyone is required to be tested. The university does require that student-athletes, certain athletics staff, residence hall staff and those who traveled internationally within the past two weeks be tested.
Three of those who tested positive were faculty and one was a staff member, university officials said. The rest were students.
This number jumped significantly from the week of Aug. 16, when only 38 people had tested positive. Fall classes began Aug. 17.
The university requires that masks be worn indoors on campus.
“Missouri State has established a COVID‑19 Response Team that works closely with the Springfield-Greene County Health Department to assist with contact tracing for individuals affiliated with campus who have tested positive,” the university’s website reads.
“The response team relies on county public health experts to determine protocols for how to handle positive tests of faculty, staff or students,” the statement continues. “These protocols guide the assessment of positive cases and identifying those who require quarantine.”
In Greene County, home to Missouri State, there have been 2,434 confirmed coronavirus infections and 10 deaths, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
This story was originally published August 24, 2020 at 3:23 PM.
