Campus coronavirus roundup, 4.26.21: Cases inch upward at Boise State, BYU-Idaho

As spring semester winds down, coronavirus case numbers remained generally stable on most Idaho campuses.

Boise State University reported a slight increase — a week after classes resumed online.

Idaho State University reported a decrease heading into this week’s delayed spring break. Spring semester there will conclude online.

Here is this week’s campus coronavirus case roundup:

Increasing

Boise State University. Seventeen cases for the seven-day period ending Thursday, up from 14 cases from the previous week. Fourteen of the new cases involved off-campus students and three involve residential students.

In a more encouraging metric, the test positivity rate tumbled to 1.3 percent, down from 2.7 percent. For the second straight week, just one of 153 campus isolation beds was in use Friday.

Since August, Boise State has reported 1,578 campus cases.

Brigham Young University-Idaho. On Sunday, BYU-Idaho reported eight active cases involving students and one case involving an employee, up from two student cases on April 18.

For the school year, BYU-Idaho has reported 2,572 cases, including 793 cases this semester.

College of Western Idaho. CWI has reported four new cases, up from three cases the previous week. CWI has reported a total of seven cases for the month, and 35 cases since January.

Lewis-Clark State College. Lewis-Clark reported two active cases Friday, involving students on the Lewiston campus. The college had reported one case a week for the previous four weeks. One student was in isolation housing.

Lewis-Clark has reported 28 confirmed cases since Jan. 4.

Decreasing

University of Idaho. The U of I reported 17 cases for the week ending April 16, down from 21 cases the previous week.

Positive test rates climbed to 3.6 percent, up from 3.2 percent.

Since August, the U of I has reported 872 positive tests on campus.

Idaho State University. For the seven-day period ending Tuesday, ISU reported six new cases, down from nine the previous week. All six cases involved students.

ISU was investigating one new case cluster, involving three off-campus students. The university has reported a total of 1,143 cases for the school year.

North Idaho College. Three self-reported cases last week, all involving students, down from five cases the previous week. Since July, 318 students and employees have self-reported a positive test.

Northwest Nazarene University. Two new cases last week, both involving residential students. NNU reported three cases the previous week. Twenty-one people were under stay-at-home directives Thursday. NNU has logged a total of 251 cases.

College of Southern Idaho. No new cases last week, after two cases the previous week. Since August, the college has reported 279 cases, including 220 involving students.

Flat

College of Eastern Idaho. Two cases last week, one involving a student and one involving an employee. CEI reported two cases the previous week, and has reported 202 cases since August.

Other

The College of Idaho. No current report.

Check Kevin Richert’s blog each Friday for a weekly roundup of statewide coronavirus trends.

Kevin Richert

Kevin Richert

Senior reporter and blogger Kevin Richert specializes in education politics and education policy. He has more than 35 years of experience in Idaho journalism. He is a frequent guest on "Idaho Reports" on Idaho Public Television and "Idaho Matters" on Boise State Public Radio. He can be reached at [email protected]

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