Vaccine update
University of Iowa Health Care on Feb. 3, 2021, took its next big step in continued efforts to keep the community safe from COVID-19. UI Health Care administered 1,004 pre-scheduled doses at one location in a single day to Johnson County residents age 65 or older who were newly eligible under Phase 1b of Iowa’s vaccination criteria.
Fall planning
The University of Iowa is looking forward to returning to an on-campus, residential experience in fall 2021. While the prevalence of COVID-19 will likely be diminished, we will continue to take steps to reduce the risk of exposure to COVID-19 for our students, faculty, staff, and community. For example, the university will only hold classes in buildings that meet CDC COVID-19 ventilation recommendations for risk reduction. This means some lecture sections with more than 150 students may be moved online, while discussion and lab sections meet in person. However, courses enrolling fewer than 150 students will be in person. Instructors who wish to hold a large lecture in person or move a smaller course online must submit a request and rationale by February 8, 2021. The goal is to hold as many face-to-face courses as possible while maintaining flexibility.
University of Iowa self-reported COVID-19 testing
These data reflect new cases since Feb. 3, 2021.
The University of Iowa has published an updated snapshot of self-reported positive COVID-19 tests from faculty, staff, and students.
Number of self-reported cases of COVID-19
Students
- New cases: 11
- Total cases: 2,935
Employees
- New cases: 4
- Total cases: 428
These numbers reflect only self-reported positive or presumed positive COVID-19 tests from UI faculty, staff, and students on the academic campus since Aug. 18, 2020. These data will not match data reported by UI Hospitals & Clinics or by the Iowa Department of Public Health for several reasons, including different testing time intervals and geographic scope. Students who also are employees of the university are only reported in the student number to avoid double counting. The UI has more than 30,000 students and nearly 30,000 employees. Many employees continue to work remotely but have self-reported to authorize sick leave.
Number of residence hall students in quarantine: 0*
Number of residence hall students in self-isolation: 0**
*Quarantine: Quarantine is used to keep someone who might have been exposed to COVID-19 away from others.
**Self-isolation: Isolation is used to separate people infected with the virus (those who are symptomatic and those with no symptoms) from people who are not infected.