On Monday, Sept. 14, Furman University updated its COVID-19 dashboard. The most recent data available at the time indicated that 16 students were quarantined on campus and that, of the 13 tests administered to on-campus students between Sept. 7 and Sept. 14, eight came back positive.  

Administrators plan to release an updated dashboard next Monday, Sept. 21, but The Paladin has already received reports of a small cluster of cases on the football team. According to multiple players, although there have only been a few overall positive cases on the team, some 10-15 players have been identified through the contract tracing system as potentially having been exposed to the virus.  

This news comes less than two weeks after mandatory testing on Friday, Sept. 4, revealed that only 3 out of the 1,254 students tested were positive for COVID-19, putting the campus positivity rate at roughly 0.24%. Since then, second- and third-year students have returned to campus, significantly increasing density, and testing Furman’s capacity to complete the fall semester in-person.  

Next Monday’s dashboard will be the first true reflection of Furman’s new reality of a campus at near capacity. If the cases on the football team are any indication of the current situation, then the dashboard is likely to show another uptick in cases relative to previous weeks.  

When asked to comment on the positive cases, VP for University Communications Tom Evelyn said that the University “cannot discuss any individual cases or provide information that could possibly identify individuals because of federal health and privacy laws.” He did note, however, that the updated case numbers will be included on the next dashboard update.