The University of Arizona has seen fewer cases of COVID-19 and better compliance with public health measures following several outreach efforts and a 14-day shelter-in-place recommendation for students living on or near campus, President Robert C. Robbins said Monday.

The shelter-in-place recommendation, announced by the university and Pima County on Sept. 14, is set to end Tuesday but may be reinstated if case numbers begin to rise again, Robbins said.

This is not a time for complacence, he stressed.

"Recommendations for face coverings, physical distancing and other measures will continue to be the hallmark of our success," he said. "I encourage all of you – students, faculty, staff and other members of our southern Arizona community, including visitors to our campus – to continue following the rules so that we can protect one another and move forward," he said. 

The university will continue to offer most classes in an online format through at least Oct. 5, with only essential courses held in person. 

The university also continues to offer testing for students and employees, with capacity to administer 1,600 nasal-swab antigen tests a day and to process samples from 1,700 polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, tests per week. Students and employees can register for testing online.

The Latest Numbers

The most recent testing data, from Friday, showed 36 new positives from 1,051 new tests conducted by the university, for a positivity rate of 3.4%.

Of those tests:

• Seventeen positives came from 89 PCR tests conducted at Campus Health. Those 17 positives included eight dorm students, eight off-campus students and one employee.
• Nineteen positives came from the university's Test All, Test Smart antigen testing program, from 962 total tests. Those 19 positives included 10 dorm students, eight off-campus students and one employee.

Testing numbers are updated nightly on the university's COVID-19 dashboard.

As of Friday evening, there were 252 students in isolation housing, with 348 beds still available. Another 43 dorm residents were isolating off campus, Robbins said.

Robbins said complaints about campus-area neighborhoods have declined in response to outreach and enforcement efforts carried out by the university in partnership with the community.

The Campus Area Response team, which responds to complaints of large gatherings and other concerns, responded to 13 properties on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, which was four fewer than the previous week. The team issued three Red Tags, 10 citations and 13 code of conduct referrals to the Dean of Students. That's compared to 10 Red Tags, 19 citations and 25 code of conduct referrals the previous weekend.

"This is a real success. People are following the rules," Robbins said. "We're seeing less large gatherings off campus, in particular."

Robbins also pointed to improvement in some of the external factors the university monitors. On Sunday, the number of COVID-19 inpatients in local hospitals decreased to 38, and the number in ICUs decreased to 12. Those numbers are close to the lowest numbers recorded – 36 and 11, respectively – since tracking began.

Continuing to follow public health guidelines will be critical for helping to keep numbers low, Robbins said.

"These improvements in case numbers and outcomes are coming from improved compliance," Robbins said. "Washing your hands, covering your face (and) staying away from as many people as possible."