Roxanna Miranda/The Rider Graphic
UTRGV reported 11 additional COVID-19 cases between Oct. 15 and 21, according to university officials.
Doug Arney, vice president for Administrative Support Services and chair of the Infectious Disease Committee at UTRGV, said among the 11 were nine students and two staff members.
Among the nine students was an athlete, according to Jonah Goldberg, senior associate director for communications for the UTRGV Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, who spoke with The Rider last Tuesday.
The athlete tested positive for COVID-19 Oct. 21 and was released from off-campus isolation Sunday.
Goldberg said this is the third positive for the department this semester.
“I’m proud of our student athletes, and our coaches and staff,” he said. “They’ve done a great job. We have an 85% vaccination rate among our entire athletics department.”
UTRGV updates the number of cases reported for campus individuals weekly through the Confirmed Cases Dashboard. The numbers on the website are provided by the university COVID-19 Response Team.
Arney said two UTRGV students were quarantined on campus the week of Oct. 15 to 21.
UTRGV has provided 50 rooms in separate wings of the Casa Bella Apartments on the Brownsville campus and in the Village Apartments in Edinburg for quarantining students.
As of last Wednesday, UT Health RGV had administered 45,787 tests and 86,308 vaccine doses, according to the Confirmed Cases Dashboard on the UTRGV COVID-19 website.
In other COVID-19-related news, UT Health RGV issued a campuswide email Oct. 25 encouraging the campus community to update their vaccine status through the UTRGV Vaccine Portal.
Students, faculty and staff have the option of updating their status through the portal to request a booster or let the university know that one has already been administered to them.
“According to the CDC’s latest recommendations, eligible individuals may now ‘mix and match’ or choose which vaccine (Pfizer, Moderna, or Johnson & Johnson) they receive as a booster dose,” the email reads.
However, UT Health RGV does not distribute the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
As previously reported by The Rider, those who qualify include:
–Anyone age 65 and older who received their second dose of the Pfizer vaccine at least six months ago
–People age 12 and older who are moderate to severely immunocompromised and received their second dose of either Pfizer or Moderna at least 28 days or four weeks ago
–18-to-64-year-olds with any underlying medical condition who received their second dose of the Pfizer vaccine at least six months ago
–Anyone age 18 and older with occupations that elevate their risk of exposure who received their second dose of the Pfizer vaccine at least six months ago.
With UTRGV’s presence in both Hidalgo and Cameron counties, cases continue to be reported.
Hidalgo County reported an additional 92 confirmed cases last Wednesday, raising the county’s total to 117,555, according to its website.
As of last Wednesday, the county reported four additional deaths, raising its death toll to 3,440. Of the four dead, none was vaccinated.
Last Tuesday, Cameron County Public Health reported an additional 27 COVID-19 cases, raising its total to 53,244.
Cameron County also reported five additional COVID-19-related deaths Tuesday, raising its death toll to 1,968. Of the five deaths, four were unvaccinated individuals.
