Most MA Colleges See Low Coronavirus Rates In First Week

MASSACHUSETTS — While other parts of the country are seeing coronavirus hotspots form in college towns as students return, many Boston-area schools are posting positive test rates below the state average.

Colleges and universities across Massachusetts began classes this week while continuing to require coronavirus testing for students, faculty and staff. And so far, the test results have given university officials a reason to be cautiously optimistic. At Boston University, for example, the school conducted 6,902 coronavirus tests Friday with only four confirmed cases for a positive test rate of 0.06 percent. That's below the state positive test rate of 0.8 percent on Friday.

Colleges have taken several measures to reduce the spread of the coronavirus, including regular testing for students and isolating anyone who tests positive for the coronavirus or may have been exposed to the virus. Classroom sizes have been limited, schools are offering more remote classes and many schools have expanded housing offerings to give every student their own room.

But those precautions are not working everywhere. A New York Times review of 203 counties where college students make up at least 10 percent of the population found that about half have seen new coronavirus cases spike in recent weeks as students returned. In Brazos County Texas, home of Texas A&M University, there were 742 new cases in the last week of August. Meanwhile, the newspaper found 846 cases since mid-August involving students and faculty at East Carolina University.

There have been at least 51,000 coronavirus cases reported at more than 1,000 colleges and universities since the pandemic began. Closer to home, however, the first full week of classes ended with mostly good news at Massachusetts colleges.

At Northeastern University, the 7-day positive test rate is 0.06 percent. The school made national headlines Friday when it dismissed 11 students it caught partying at a hotel. At Harvard University, where classes are being conducted remotely this fall, there were only nine positive tests out of the 10,028 administered over the past week. Wellesley College and Bentley University have only had one positive coronavirus test each since they started testing students and faculty earlier this summer.

Dave Copeland writes for Patch and can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).