Updated weekly, our COVID-19 dashboard reflects data from the seven days prior to the most recent page update. The university is on winter break through Jan. 17. The dashboard will next be updated Monday, Jan. 10.
Page last updated: Dec. 23, 2021
View more information about our risk threshold indicators and definitions.
Puget Sound has 41 isolation rooms.
Number of tests administered Dec. 18–22: 28
Based on a population of 3,000 total students, faculty, and staff
Working with our public health consultant, Tegria, the university has determined the following thresholds to help guide decision-making about campus operations and activities. These indicators are part of a range of factors influencing our COVID-19 response, including proclamations and guidance issued by Gov. Inslee; Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department guidance and recommendations; contact tracing capacity and effectiveness; access to personal protective equipment (PPE); and other considerations.
Note that certain campus operations and activities may be modified or temporarily suspended due to public health, professional standards, or other external organizational guidance. For example, in addition to university guidelines, the intercollegiate athletics program also abides by Northwest Conference and NCAA guidelines.
Low Transmission. Few individuals have tested positive and each individual has only a few close contacts, keeping cases restricted to a small population. Isolation and quarantine measures are likely sufficient for containment. All campus activities continue to follow the basic campus guidelines outlined for the fall 2021 semester. CHWS, residential life, dining, campus security, and facilities staff members can easily manage the needs of students in quarantine/isolation housing. Randomized asymptomatic surveillance testing may be conducted. Targeted individual diagnostic testing will be reserved for close contacts and people with COVID-19 symptoms.
Moderate Transmission. Cases are primarily within a specific subsection of the community (such as a residential hall, academic/administrative building, team, event participants, or classroom). There is a moderately high level of confidence in the accuracy of contact tracing due to the speed of test results and the number of cases. Non-academic indoor events may be limited to less than 75% of normal occupancy capacity. Select programs or areas may have their operations modified (e.g., cease in-person activities) or discontinued. CHWS, residential life, dining, campus security, and facilities staff resources may be strained but still able to manage the needs of students in quarantine/isolation housing. Targeted individual diagnostic testing may be conducted in specific subsections of the community in addition to asymptomatic surveillance testing.
Substantial Transmission. The University of Puget Sound campus or surrounding community has more widespread cases, and confidence is decreasing in the ability for test results to be quickly returned and/or for close contacts to be identified. Minimizing contact between community members and those on campus becomes a high priority. In some circumstances, a remediation plan might be necessary to help reduce the rate at which COVID-19 spreads on campus. CHWS, residential life, dining, campus security, and facilities staff resources may be significantly impacted by the needs of students in quarantine/isolation housing, and some restructuring of staffing duties may be required. Hybrid academic options and de-densifying academic and other spaces may be implemented. Testing the entire campus community once over the course of the week may be conducted at this point, in addition to increased asymptomatic surveillance testing.
High Transmission. The rate of campus transmission is high. Essential functions (e.g., care oversight, security, dining) may be compromised due to the number of students and/or employees in isolation. If the transmission rate specifically on campus is high, students who live on campus may be instructed to “shelter in place.” Campus operations may be significantly limited to reduce the risk of ongoing transmission. A temporary pivot to remote operations across campus, including academics, may be implemented until case counts decline. The university may switch to weekly asymptomatic surveillance testing campuswide for a period of time in order to reduce the risk of infection across the Puget Sound community. Campuswide contact tracing of the entire population may be conducted with the assistance of state and local public health agencies.
The percentage of current undergraduate and graduate students who have uploaded verification of their COVID-19 vaccinations.
Approved medical or religious exemptions: 1.3%
Percentage includes all full- and part-time staff members, including long-term temporary staff members, and all regular faculty members who have uploaded verification of their COVID-19 vaccinations.
Approved medical or religious exemptions: 3.7%
Cases
The term "case" is used to refer to a campus member with a positive diagnostic test result for COVID-19.
On Campus and Off Campus
"On campus" refers to a student who lives in a residence hall, or on-campus house.
"Off campus" refers to a student who does not live in residential housing on campus.
Pooled Tests
Asymptomatic testing is being provided using saliva-based PCR pooled testing, which pools saliva samples into groups of 24 and surveys the whole pool for COVID-19. If a pool is "not detected," this means that COVID-19 has not been found in that pool. If a pool is "detected," COVID-19 has been found, but this does not mean that all 24 individuals in the pool are COVID-19 positive. Further processing of the samples making up the pool needs to occur to identify the sample which is positive for COVID-19.
Testing Strategy
As a fully vaccinated campus, we anticipated testing only symptomatic and unvaccinated individuals during fall semester 2021. However, in response to increased transmissibility of the delta variant, and the rate of breakthrough cases associated with this variant, the breadth of COVID-19 testing has expanded in order to inform decisions regarding COVID-19 mitigation strategies. Each week, 10% of the campus community is randomly selected to participate in asymptomatic testing. In addition, all faculty, staff, and students who have traveled away from campus during fall and Thanksgiving breaks are required to participate in gateway testing, and routine asymptomatic testing is required for unvaccinated individuals on campus. (Fully vaccinated individuals are not required to participate in weekly asymptomatic testing). Students experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 have access to PCR saliva testing at their discretion. Symptomatic COVID-19 testing for students is also available through CHWS with several options, including antigen testing and NAAT/PCR testing performed with a nasal swab. All tests conducted on campus are included in the weekly total for the number of tests and correlating percentage of positive tests.
Tests
The number of tests reflect the total number of University of Puget Sound-administered saliva PCR tests for asymptomatic testing, nasal PCR/NAAT tests for students with COVID-19 symptoms administered at CHWS, and antigen tests for students needing additional or alternative testing for reasons such as engagement in athletic competition or due to a prior COVID-19 diagnosis.
The health and well-being of the Puget Sound community is of paramount importance as the university navigates the COVID-19 pandemic. University of Puget Sound considers a range of factors in making decisions related to the university’s overall response to COVID-19, including the following:
For more information about the university’s response to COVID-19, visit pugetsound.edu/coronavirus.
To view information and statistics by county and statewide, visit the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department Coronavirus website and the Washington State Department of Health 2019 Novel Coronavirus Outbreak page.
If you have questions related to this dashboard, please contact Kelly Brown, director of Counseling, Health, and Wellness Services, at 253.879.1555.