24 SCIENCE NEWS | February 27, 2021FEATURE | COVID-19 ON CAMPUSUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison
In September, Wisconsin had one of the high-
est per capita rates of COVID -19 in the country.
The University of Wisconsin–Madison was at the
center of concern: Hundreds of students tested
positive when campus opened in late August.
Some students on campus gathered in large
groups without masks despite university restric-
tions, according to the Badger Herald, a student
newspaper. At the peak of the outbreak in early
September, 911 students and staff tested positive
in a single week.
The university partnered with a local bio-
technology company that had developed a
PCR COVID -19 test. As a research university,
UW–Madison had the infrastructure to quickly
analyze test samples on campus.
The initial plan had been to test all students liv-
ing in residence halls every other week, says Jake
Baggott, associate vice chancellor and executive
director of University Health Services. But when
cases spiked in September, the school moved to
weekly testing.
“We sampled each residence hall, and eachStudents: 6,400 in
dorms; 31,650 enrolled
Testing: Mandatory,
weekly PCR testing
for students and staff
in university housing;
random sampling of
faculty, staff and students
living off campus who opt
in to testing
Safety measures:
Masks required
indoors and outdoors;
contact tracing; event
restrictions following
CDC guidelines
Spring semester plans:
Undergrads tested twice
a week; faculty and
staff need a negative
test within eight days
of coming to campus;
mandatory symptom
monitoring and contact
tracing via a phone app
for all students in the
Madison area; up-to-
date testing required for
building accessfloor of each residence hall, every day,” Baggott
says. A staggered schedule was set based on liv-
ing arrangements: If one student was tested on a
Monday, the roommate was tested Tuesday, the
next-door neighbor tested Wednesday and so on.
This staggering helped administrators identify
outbreak sites more quickly, as new data were
available each day at a hyperlocal level.
Students who tested positive were put into
two-week isolation and anyone known to be
exposed to an infected person or exhibiting
symptoms went into quarantine. All nonessential
in- person activity was suspended for undergradu-
ates for two weeks, starting on September 7. On
September 20, a record 432 students were in isola-
tion and 100 were in quarantine.
By late September, new daily cases had dropped
below 20, and test positivity — the share of tests
returning positive results — remained below
5 percent, a threshold recommended by the World
Health Organization before a community should
think about reopening. The university used simi-
lar tactics to crack down on a smaller outbreak
that began in late October.University of Wisconsin — COVID-19 casesUniversity of Wisconsin — testingNew daily cases
(7-day rolling average)New daily tests
(7-day rolling average)DateDateAugust 7, 2020August 7, 2020September 7September 7October 7October 7November 7November 7December 30December 30December 7December 71402,0001001,600601,2006001201,800801,400401,0004000020800200All nonessential
in-person activity
suspended for two
weeks432 students in isolation and
100 in quarantineOver 1,000 tests done per
day; students now tested
weeklyClasses move to
all virtual instructionC. CHANG C. CHANGData are from the University of Wisconsin’s
public COVID-19 dashboard:
covidresponse.wisc.edu/dashboard/. Case and
test numbers are rolling seven-day averages.Classes startcovid-colleges.indd 24covid-colleges.indd 24 2/10/21 9:24 AM2/10/21 9:24 AM