West Virginia University is providing additional data to its COVID-19 testing dashboard to help the campus and surrounding community better understand positive test results and monitoring protocols.
The dashboard will be updated tonight to incorporate testing data from student-athletes and Department of Intercollegiate Athletics staff to the existing student and faculty/staff information beginning Sept. 2.
Athletics started its testing program in early June based on stringent Big 12 requirements to prepare for a return to team practice and competition.
Once the University stood up its own testing system as part of the Return to Campus protocols in July, it took time to determine the best way to merge the separate data streams and ensure the information was being displayed accurately.
“By early September, we were able to determine the best way to incorporate the Athletics data into our overall campus testing numbers,” said Dr. Carmen Burrell, medical director of Urgent Care and Student Health Services. “This is the latest in our efforts to continually refine and improve our dashboard and public reporting processes to be as transparent as possible, especially as we ramp up additional screening testing on the Morgantown campus.”
All positive test results, including those from third-parties, must be reported to WVU. Students should notify the WVU CARE Team, and employees should notify WVU Medical Management.
“Our goal is to identify cases of COVID-19 so we can limit spread of the virus both amongst our athletes and within the community,” said Dr. A.J. Monseau, head team physician and medical director for WVU Athletics. “We continue to do our absolute best to prevent cases, successfully isolate those who are positive, and effectively quarantine those who are deemed close contacts.”
All positive results reported to WVU are sent directly to the state.
“All WVU data, including Athletics testing results, has always been treated the same way by the state,” Burrell said. “We are simply changing our process now that we have the ability to merge the various data feeds effectively.”
WVU’s dashboard is updated Monday-Friday at 2 p.m. Information regarding students and employees will still be broken out by campus (Morgantown, Beckley and Keyser).
Updates are also provided by the University on WVU Safety social media accounts.
Additionally, WVU shares trends and other COVID-19 related updates with the public each week or as necessary via WVUToday.
The dashboard should not be used to monitor individual test results. WVU students, faculty and staff should follow the Return to Campus guidelines to access test results.
Additional information and COVID-19 updates are available at WVU’s Return to Campus website.
