Two-week steady drop in COVID cases at UTRGV

Midway through the Fall 2021 semester, UTRGV reported 13 additional COVID-19 cases between Sept. 17 and 23, according to a university official.

Doug Arney, vice president for Administrative Support Services and chair of the Infectious Disease Committee at UTRGV, said among the 13 were eight students, four staff and one faculty member.

As previously reported by The Rider, UTRGV had been reporting cases above 20 for two consecutive weeks.

The week of Sept. 10 through the 16, the university dipped below the 20 mark with 17 cases reported, the first time since July 30 that the cases at UTRGV had decreased.

The downward trend continued for the week of Sept. 17 through the 23, with only 13 cases reported.

UTRGV updates the number of cases reported for campus individuals weekly through the Confirmed Cases Dashboard. The numbers on this website are provided by the university COVID-19 Response Team.

Arney said no UTRGV students were quarantined on campus the week of Sept. 17 to 23.

As previously reported by The Rider, 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 45,150 tests and 86,139 vaccine doses, according to the Confirmed Cases Dashboard on the UTRGV COVID-19 website.

Hidalgo and Cameron counties continue to show an increase in COVID-19 cases.

Hidalgo County reported an additional 125 confirmed cases last Wednesday, raising the county’s total to 114,847, according to its website.

As of last Wednesday, the county reported 10 additional deaths, raising its toll to 3,327. All 10 were unvaccinated individuals.

Last Tuesday, Cameron County Public Health reported an additional 75 COVID-19 cases, raising its total to 52,013.

The county also reported 116 recovered, raising the total to 47,704, according to a news release.

Cameron County did not report any additional COVID-19 related deaths Tuesday. The number of deaths total 1,898.