TUCSON, Ariz. — Four days into the return to campus, the trend of COVID-19 infection continues to go down at the University of Arizona.
UArizona reported:
- An estimate of 30-thousand students are back on campus,
- UArizona’s online program has increased enrollment with 6,000 students this year, and
- Out of more than 10,000 COVID-19 tests administered, 46 came back positive.
“Campus doesn’t look the way it did last year. There are less people out and moving about,” said university president, Dr. Robert C. Robbins.
Robbins went on to say, he is proud that many students on campus are abiding by the health rules set in place during the day. However, at night he is noticing some slip ups.
“Most people are doing a good job of covering their face, but I have seen people that are in groups that are not socially distanced and not covering their face. And that’s a problem,” said Robbins.
For example, large gatherings were reported in beach volleyball areas, so the university took down the nets.
“This is a true public health crisis and an issue. For us to have the privilege to continue to have the university stay open, we have to follow the rules. And we’ll continue to focus on, as always, on our test, trace and treat program. It’s the heart of our mitigation efforts,” said Robbins.
Those efforts, Robbins believes, the university has done a good job in upholding. Now the re-entry taskforce says, its up to the students to do their part.
“Now our challenge is controlling those variables that are the tough ones, the social behaviors. The fact is these social behaviors are the ones that are plaguing us now,” said Dr. Richard Carmona, the UArizona reentry task force director.
