The campus dashboard has seen a dip in positive COVID-19 cases in the week since returning to in-person classes, but at-home tests may complicate this data.
According to the campus COVID-19 dashboard, there were 400 positive cases last week. By contrast, there were 468 during the week of Jan. 16, when classes were initially slated to begin in person.
“If everybody came back when classes were supposed to start … that would’ve perhaps been more problematic,” said John Swartzberg, UC Berkeley clinical professor emeritus of infectious disease and vaccinology.
However, the dashboard data only accounts for polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, tests administered by campus, not at-home tests, according to University Health Services spokesperson Tami Cate.
Cate added campus is “not seeing a full picture” of positive cases due to this lack of data. While students are encouraged to report positive rapid test results, few do so, Swartzberg noted.
According to Swartzberg, campus has a large stock of at-home tests, but PCR testing is limited due to high demand and the required testing for students.
“With the return to campus, the RSF site has been at full capacity, however we are seeing a high no show rate for appointments,” Cate said in an email. “Also we are seeing some testing too frequently at RSF.”
Despite the high demand, the number of campus PCR tests has decreased from 11,286 to 9,733 over the past three weeks, according to the campus COVID-19 dashboard.
In addition to unreported at-home tests, the diminishing omicron variant can also explain the decline of positive cases, according to Swartzberg.
The omicron variant peaked in the Bay Area during the third week of January, according to Swartzberg. He noted if the downward trajectory continues, COVID-19 risk will fall.
“There’s going to remain a risk — the virus is not going away,” Swartzberg said. “It really comes down to individual behavior.”
However, some students and faculty do not feel entirely safe, even with the decline in cases.
Ethan Collier, ASUC Academic Affairs Vice President spokesperson, said he is “virtually left with no choice” but to attend a large lecture in person because there is no remote alternative.
In addition, campus lecturer Nicholas Weaver teaches some of campus’s largest classes in person, but he also webcasts them to “fully support remote students.”
Weaver criticized campus’s fully in-person stance, citing students for whom in-person remains a risk. In addition, Weaver called on campus to clearly communicate changing guidelines around COVID-19 safety.
“We developed tools and techniques that can support remote students,” Weaver said in an email. “It makes no sense to abandon them.”
