VSU students no longer need to play the guessing game as VSU will begin conducting weekly data updates of COVID-19 cases on campus.

“VSU will be releasing its data weekly and on Fridays starting this week,” Robbyn DeSpain, the director of strategic communications said. “The data that will be available is current active cases involving faculty/staff and current active cases involving students.”

VSU started back conducting face to face classes on Aug.17. The week of Aug. 28 had 18 new COVID-19 positive cases, all of which were students out of 12,407. The total amount of active cases between Aug.17 and Aug. 28 is 25 cases between both employees and students. There is a total of 1,416 VSU employees.

“The numbers are a little unsettling, honestly,” Martez Barkley, a VSU junior major said. “Especially considering how all it takes is one person to get everyone stick like it could be anyone we know that has it.”

The numbers will be available to the public on the VSU website under the “Health Advisory” section.

Middle Georgia University, another South Georgia college, is updating their school website every Monday at 5 p.m. Among students there have been 11 cases through Aug. 17 to Aug. 23. The school campus remains open today.

On Aug. 24, the Georgia Institute of Technology reported 51 new cases of COVID-19, increasing their total number of cases to 302 since March. According to Forbes, “A fraternity at the school was placed under quarantine over the weekend after at least 17 more of its members tested positive for Covid-19.“

VSU’s Student Health Center is providing on-campus testing to help retrieve this data. The Health Department has also partnered with VSU to notify them when students, faculty, and staff get tested off-campus.

Students can also self-report on COVID through their MyVSU homepage. In the top right corner next to Blazeview it is labeled “COVID Self-Reporting.” Students have the option to report a positive case of COVID-19, self-isolation, or a social distancing concern.

“I think it’s important everyone on campus is updated on the case numbers,” Barkley said. “That way everyone stays on their toes and continues doing their part, which to me means wearing a mask.”

Along with VSU, Lowndes County Schools are also conducting weekly COVID-19 updates. As of Aug. 21, there are 10,381 students. Seven students have newly tested positive while 139 students have quarantined for possible exposure. There is a total of 1,390 employees and only one has a new positive status. Sixteen employees have quarantined for possible exposure.

Written by Kayla Pool. Photo courtesy of The Spectator.