14 test positive for COVID-19 in first 2 weeks of semester

Omar E. Zapata | THE RIDER

Fourteen UTRGV students and employees tested positive for COVID-19 at university testing sites between Aug. 20 and Sept. 2, officials say. 

Doug Arney, vice president for Administrative Support Services and chair of the Infectious Disease Committee at UTRGV, told The Rider that between Aug. 20 and 26, seven UTRGV individuals tested positive. Of those seven, three were students and four were employees. Between Aug. 27 and Sept. 2, one employee and six students tested positive. 

As of Aug. 31, 22,053 tests had been conducted by UT Health RGV testing sites, according to the Confirmed Cases Dashboard on the UTRGV COVID-19 website.

“Majority of these cases, they’re not getting it while they’re on campus,” Arney said. “They’re getting it from the family environment. … We’re a very social community and people just are not social distancing when they should be.”

 Even if family members come into town, you do not know where they have been, he said. 

Arney gave an example of how he practices social distancing within his family. He has three sons that go to Texas Tech University and when he is around them, he acts like they have COVID-19 to practice social distancing. 

“It may seem cruel, but they’re out and about and I don’t know where they’ve been,” Arney said. “So I treat pretty much everybody like if they have COVID just so I don’t get COVID. … But, that’s a good way to think about it because you don’t really know where that person has been.” 

Arney said students and staff have been doing a good job complying with the COVID-19 protocols on campuses.

“We’ve not heard of any case of anybody not complying with our protocol, which is great news,” he said.  

For more information about university updates and resources related to COVID-19, visit https://www.utrgv.edu/coronavirus/.

For information about how and where to get tested, read The Rider’s story on UTRGV COVID-19 testing sites at https://www.utrgvrider.com/utrgv-covid-19-testing-sites-continue-services/.