Breaking News: FIU Had 31 New Cases Last Week, Highest Number Reported In One Week

Jordan Coll / News Director & Valentina Palm/ Editor-In-Chief

Last week, FIU had 31 new COVID-19 cases, the highest number reported in a week this fall semester.

27 students and four faculty or staff members self-reported having the virus the week of Oct. 26, according to the FIU COVID-19 dashboard. 

19 of the 27 students who self-reported having the virus live or learn on campus. The remaining eight cases were of students learning remotely.

All four faculty or staff members who self-reported having the virus last week work on campus.

Cases reflected on the university’s dashboard are self-reported by students and faculty to the Student Affairs and Human Resources divisions or the FIU COVID-19 Response Team. 

The FIU dashboard divides COVID-19 cases into four categories; students living or learning on campus, students learning remotely, faculty/staff working on campus, or working remotely. 

Last week had the highest number of cases of students living or learning on campus reported in one week with 19 new cases. It follows the week of Aug. 24 with 18 cases and the week of Oct. 12 with 17 cases

Campus housing common areas such as communal kitchens and the pool opened five weeks ago. 49 new cases of students who live or learn on campus have been reported ever since. 

FIU faculty and staff started repopulating campus on Oct. 5. Since then, 13 faculty or staff members who work on campus have self-reported being COVID-19 positive.

A total of 181 cases have been self-reported to the university since the start of the fall semester, ten weeks ago.

Of the 138 student cases self-reported to the university this semester, 88 live or study on campus. 21 of the 43 faculty or staff who’ve self-reported having the virus teach or work on campus.

The dashboard is updated every Monday by the FIU Covid-19 Response Team.