WEST LAFAYETTE — Slightly under one percent of Purdue fall semester students are testing positive for COVID-19, the school announced Wednesday.
Purdue is requiring that all students be tested before arriving on the West Lafayette campus. 15,444 test results are in, and 133 came back positive. By the time fall semester begins August 24, 40,000 students are expected to be tested.
“Even at this very low percentage of positive cases, we have been able to intercept those students who have the virus before they arrived in West Lafayette, helping address positive cases before they join our ecosystem,” said Dr. Esteban Ramirez, chief medical officer for the Protect Purdue Health Center. “As we get closer to the start of classes, we will continue to receive and report results and will continue to remind students of the testing requirement. It is critical that students follow the components of the Protect Purdue Pledge to ensure they stay COVID-free before their arrival and throughout the semester for the safety of our community.”
Students who test positive must go into self-isolation for 10 days before they can come to West Lafayette.
First-year Purdue students begin arriving August 14 for Boiler Gold Rush orientation programs. Classes at Purdue begin on the 24th.
Purdue will update pre-arrival test results on August 19. A dashboard of the current campus status is being developed and will be posted publicly on the Protect Purdue website beginning August 24.
To implement the “test all” program, Purdue entered into a partnership with Vault Health and Rutgers University and provided the needed funding for test kits to be sent to the homes of all students who will be taking on-campus classes this fall.
