OXFORD, Ohio — More than a third of student residence halls at Miami University are reporting the highest advisory level because of coronavirus positive tests, according to the school’s latest dashboard data and reported by the Journal-News.
Of Miami’s 35 residence halls on its main Oxford campus, 13 – or 38 percent - are now listed in the purple category, which is the highest alert level per a new coronavirus testing measurement installed by the school last week.
According to Miami’s coronavirus dashboard update Monday, the purple level 4 category means at each residence hall “at least one floor with at least 5 percent tested positive in the last seven days and statistical evidence of a cluster.”
The student halls listed at a purple level 4 are: Anderson; Brandon; Clawson; Dennison; Emerson; Flower; Hahne; Havighurst; McBride; Minnich; Morris; Ogden and Symmes as of Oct. 4.
Also, according to the Oct. 1 update on of Miami’s dashboard, there were 33 new student cases from the previous dashboard update and a cumulative total 1,614 students testing positive for coronavirus since Aug. 17.
Of the 1,614, the “estimated cumulative recovered” has been 1,359 students.
There have been no reports to date of a Miami student being hospitalized for the coronavirus.
There are just more than half of the usual 8,000 students now living in residence halls on Miami’s main Oxford campus, school officials have reported.
Thousands of the students at the Oxford campus – and at the regional schools in Hamilton and Middletown – are learning via a combination of remote virtual classes and in-person classes as a preventive measure by the school to lessen the spread of the coronavirus.
“As we have continued our aggressive Covid-19 testing program, we have begun to see a rise in infections in our residence halls,” said Carole Johnson, spokeswoman for Miami University.
“It is important to us to be as transparent as possible with our students so they can take appropriate action to mitigate their risk of contracting Covid-19,” said Johnson.
“This color-coded system is intended to help residential students and those visiting them to take extra precautions to reduce their risk of infection so we can remain together for the entirety of the fall semester.”
According to the system, Level 3 is “at least one floor with three or more positive tests in the last seven days.”
And “Level 2 is at least one floor with one to two positive tests in the last seven days,” while a Level 1 designation is “zero positive tests in the last seven days.”
Three of Miami’s 35 residence halls – Collins, MacCracken and Tappan – are now listed in Level 3, according to the school’s rating system.
For more information, go to Miami’s coronavirus dashboard website.
The Journal-News is a media partner of WCPO 9 News.
