Updated January 15, 2022

Current status: Third week of omicron wave

For the third consecutive week, case transmission increased substantially in Hennepin and Ramsey counties. (For prior weeks’ data, see Augsburg’s COVID-19 Dashboard Metrics report.) Test positivity rates also remain high, but are consistent with the first week of January. It is evident from the weekly data that the omicron wave began in the Twin Cities metropolitan area right around the Christmas holiday.

On campus, Augsburg continues to receive a substantial number of reports of positive cases. The 28 student cases reported so far for the week ending January 15 is equal to the number for the week ending January 8 when last week’s dashboard was published. In the interim, an additional 19 on-campus student cases were reported for the week ending January 8, bringing the total for that week to 47 student cases.

Due to the lag in COVID-19 test results (which has increased recently in Minnesota), it is  expected that additional positive cases will be confirmed for the week ending January 15. The additional cases could potentially move Augsburg’s on-campus case rate from moderate (1% – 3% of on-campus students) to substantial (3+% of on-campus students). The additional mitigation efforts announced last week follow Minnesota Department of Health guidance for operating in a substantial-transmission scenario.

Below are Augsburg’s COVID-19 dashboard data as of January 15, except where noted.

Metric	Status
Cases within the on-campus community	New confirmed cases this week: 11 employees 28 on-campus students On-campus student cases over 14 days = 2.65%
% of isolation beds full	16%
Change in 7-day case rate per 10,000 (for the week of December 26 – January 1)	+67.9 Hennepin County +67.1 Ramsey County +45.9 statewide
Regional test positivity rate (as of January 12)	26.93% Hennepin County 26.57% Ramsey County
Regional 7-day case rate per 100,000 (as of January 14)	1530.60 Hennepin County 1461.33 Ramsey County

Notes:

• • Due to standard delays in receiving and confirming case reports, recent data in this report may be incomplete.
  • The total student number used to calculate the percent of on-campus student cases for the week was 2,789, which the total number of students enrolled during the first week of classes, excluding students who tested positive for COVID-19 before returning to campus. includes resident students and students with on-campus employment or activities.
  • Change in regional 7-day case rate per 10,000 is reported by the Minnesota Department of Health.
  • Regional test positivity and 7-day case rate per 100,000 are reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Below are Augsburg’s campus vaccination rates as of the end of the Fall 2021 semester. The next update to our vaccination rates will be reported in the January 22 dashboard, which will include all students registered for the 2022 spring semester.

December 2021	All Students	Faculty/Staff
Vaccinated (as a % of all reported)	89.30%	96.21%
Reported to date	99.49%	98.14%

Key: COVID-19 Transmission Level Metrics