A memorandum regarding COVID Testing Return to Campus

At this time in the fall, Cambridge would usually begin the academic year by welcoming in thousands of college students. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, has fundamentally changed each aspect of our lives, including the ways we educate students, and bring new neighbors into our community. To learn more about how our local universities are adapting, I chaired an Economic Development and University Relations Committee meeting on August 11th. Since hearing directly from MIT, Harvard, and Lesley on their reopening strategies, they have each allowed a small, select number of students to return to the area for on-campus living, learning, or research experiences.

Students and staff at each university must follow stringent public health guidelines to be allowed to return to campus, including testing and quarantine on arrival, as well as routine testing throughout the academic year. To date, 24 MIT community members have tested positive, compared to 54,448 tests that have been administered; their total positivity rate is just .044%, lower than Cambridge’s .16% two week positivity rate. The below chart illustrates MIT’s testing and positivity numbers during the past week.

Of the 48,434 tests that have been taken by Harvard students and faculty since June, 43, or .089%, were positive. Below is a seven-day visualization of new COVID-19 cases in the Harvard community during this past week.

Anyone who tests positive is immediately quarantined and given access to medical care, if needed. Daily updates on these results are also available online by visiting MIT’s and Harvard’s respective testing dashboards. Although Lesley’s data is not yet available, they are working closely with the Public Health Department to track and respond to any cases, and I will share another update when that data is available.

With low numbers like these, it’s clear that the universities’ vigilance and conservative approach is helping keep Cambridge safe in these uncertain times. As the Chair of the Economic Development and Universities Committee, I will continue working with each MIT, Harvard, Lesley, and our Public Health Department on public health strategies, and I look forward to exploring and developing creative ways each university can support our own public school students as we enter the new school year.

Thank you,

Alanna Mallon

Cambridge Vice-Mayor