Pittsburgh colleges report increase in COVID-19 cases
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Local college campuses are reporting increases in the number of COVID-19 cases as cases have doubled in Allegheny County.
Just when college students started getting used to the normalcy, the COVID-19 transmission level has risen to "substantial" in Allegheny County, according to the CDC. On Thursday, the Allegheny County Health Department reported 906 new infections from April 7 to April 11, which is a jump from the 487 cases reported the previous week.
Since the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University made masks optional on March 28, COVID cases have gone up on the Pittsburgh campuses.
"It's been so nice not having masks in classes and it does feel like it's getting back to normal. You just want it to get there to the finish line," said Anna McDonald, a junior at Pitt.
Pitt's COVID dashboard shows 68 students tested positive for the week ending April 12, That's up from the university's 21 cases two weeks ago.
Pitt's COVID Medical Response Office said in a release, "Cases on our campuses remain mild and low in number and the COVID-19 Community Levels in the communities where there are Pitt campuses continue to be low. The seven-day moving average of positive student cases on the Pittsburgh campus crept up from 6.3 last week to 9.7 this week. While this is not a clinically significant increase for the Pittsburgh campus, we continue to keep a close eye."
"I've gotten a little bit concerned. I know a couple of friends of mine have started testing positive again. But with that being said, I'm not nearly as worried as I was when the spike happened last semester," said Hunter Coyle, a Pitt sophomore.
The university is encouraging students to stay up to date on boosters, get tested if symptomatic and refrain from going to class when feeling ill.
"I don't want to get sick, especially with finals coming up. I'm going to try to stay healthy as I can," McDonald said.
"I will still enjoy things being normal, but I'll be a little cautious with larger groups wearing masks and all," said Matthew Levin, a sophomore at Pitt.
Just down the road, Carnegie Mellon reported 55 student cases on its Pittsburgh campus from April 5 to April 11. The number of cases quadrupled since March 28.
Knowing things could be, and have been, much worse, college students are sharing similar hopes right now.
"I want to see the semester finish as normal as possible," Coyle said.
"That we'll get over it together, wear masks and eventually get rid of COVID," Levin said.
CDC data shows Allegheny County is in the "low category" for its indoor masking recommendations.