COVID-19 Update: Nearly 500 UF students test positive for COVID-19 since start of semester
Monday marks 492 UF students having tested positive since Jan. 11 with 877 quarantined individuals COVID-19 graphic generic Photo by Carley Noll | The Independent Florida Alligator
After 205 more UF students tested positive for COVID-19 since Jan. 19, the total number of infected students since the start of the semester is nearing 500.
Since the first day of classes, 492 students and 106 employees have tested positive, according to the university’s COVID-19 testing dashboard. This brings the cumulative figure for all UF-affiliate cases to 7,886 since the dashboard began tracking on March 18.
UF affiliates who are quarantining – including employee
Local health care leaders shared at a telephone town hall Monday evening that while COVID-19 vaccine supplies are “getting tight,” Alachua County is making good progress distributing its supplies.
As of Monday, more than 27,000 people here have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, including more than 12,000 who are 65 or older.
Paul Myers, administrator for the Florida Department of Health in Alachua County, said the county averages about 850 vaccinations per day and vaccinated more than 15,000 residents within the first three weeks of availability.
“And that’s just the start,” Myers said. “We plan on having that number doubled or tripled, as soon as we get the capacity and the doses.”
UF’s COVID-19 testing efforts have been steady during the first week-and-a-half of classes. For the last 7 days or the last week, positivity rates have hovered around a 2% average.
UF Faculty and graduate students raise questions over ICU capacities
Unions concerned over UF’s lack of transparency with ICU capacities and action plan thresholds January 19, 2021 | 10:35am EST J. Evans, a Gainesville Police Department officer, directs traffic into Malcom Randall VA Medical Center on Monday, Jan. 18, 2021. A long line of traffic formed outside the hospital as Alachua County residents 65-years-old and older waited to receive COVID-19 vaccines. Photo by Julia Cooper | The Independent Florida Alligator
Intensive care unit capacities are used to determine the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic for hospitals and the areas they serve.
However, UF Health hasn’t released daily ICU capacity f
A University of Florida student has died and four others were injured following a crash on West University Avenue Saturday evening.
Sophia Lambert, a 19-year-old sophomore, died from injuries sustained in the crash. The other four students, and one of the two drivers, were transported to UF Health Shands Hospital, but the extent of their injuries remains unknown, said Gainesville police spokesman Graham Glover.
Around 7:30 p.m. Saturday, five pedestrians were standing at the intersection of Northwest 17th Street and the 1700 block of West University Avenue, when a Honda Civic headed east collided with a westbound Honda Accord that was attempting to turn left onto Northwest 17th Street, according to a police news release. The Honda Civic then skidded sideways before hitting a pole and the five pedestrians, all UF students.