NIU weekly COVID-19 update: 116 new virus cases

DeKALB – Over the past week, from Jan. 31 through Monday, Northern Illinois University reported 116 new cases of COVID-19: 16 employees and 100 students.

The university also reported 150 recoveries: 22 employees and 128 students.

Of the remaining 35 active cases on campus, 32 are among students. Since the start of the school year on Aug. 19, there have been 1,010 cases of COVID-19 and 975 recoveries.

According to the school’s website, 96% of the quarantine and isolation beds are available.

Surveillance testing is done weekly on a random selection of students and staff on campus via rapid testing, which allows NIU to locate and identify viral spread more quickly. During the week of Jan. 31, 1,604 surveillance tests were administered, resulting in 37 positive test results. NIU’s positivity rate is 2.31%.

NIU has a total enrollment of 16,769 for the Fall semester, which includes undergraduate and graduate students, and 3,694 students living on campus. Spring semester enrollment numbers will be released later this week.

As part of NIU’s COVID-19 protocol, all students and employees on campus are required to participate in weekly surveillance testing unless they provide proof of vaccination.

Gov. JB Pritzker has required all higher education students and staff to be vaccinated against COVID-19. NIU had approved a similar mandate, including a required vaccine for students living on campus, before the governor’s announced mandate in late August.

Although specific surveillance testing results are reported weekly on Mondays, positive tests found through the program are included in daily statistics.

Daily COVID-19 case data from the DeKalb County Health Department might not reflect daily data from NIU because some students or employees may live outside the county and still test positive for the virus.