The Tufts Daily

​​COVID-19 cases are on the decline following a surge on the Tufts' Medford/Somerville campus. The university reported 25 new cases on Friday, down from 79 new cases on April 12th, when Tufts set a record for the most positive cases reported in a single day. The previous record was set on Jan. 3 and April 8, when the university reported 68 cases in a day. 

Tufts announced revised COVID-19 isolation procedures in an email to the university-wide community on April 13 as The Mods and hotel rooms used for isolation neared capacity.

COVID-19 cases have increased on the Medford/Somerville campus following students’ return from spring break. The University reported 28 new cases on Saturday and 68 the day before. This marks the second time Tufts has reached the highest recorded number of cases in a day. The average number of COVID-19 cases in a day increased by around 10% in the past week, with an average of 29 students testing positive each day in the week before Saturday. 

Dr. Elissa Perkins, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at Boston University School of Medicine and Emergency Medical Research Director at Boston Medical Center, explained why it is currently safe to lift mask mandates.

COVID-19 cases declined drastically at Tufts as students left the Medford/Somerville campus for spring break. The university reported 7 new cases on Friday and 21 in the week before.

While Massachusetts recently lifted its mask mandate for K-12 schools and both Medford and Somerville have removed their indoor masking requirements, Tufts continues to enforce a mask mandate.

COVID-19 cases have declined on the Medford/Somerville campus after reaching their all-time high two weeks ago. The university reported 12 new cases on Friday and 148 in the week before.

COVID-19 case numbers have shown noticeable signs of improvement after they peaked following Valentine’s Day. The university reported 21 new cases on Thursday and 171 in the week before, which are much lower than the record-breaking spike set in just the last two weeks.

COVID-19 positive Tufts students are being sent to the Homewood Suites hotel in Arlington for isolation as the Mods neared their full capacity last Tuesday. Patrick Collins, Executive Director of Media Relations, revealed how capacity and maintenance issues in the Mods lead Tufts to assign COVID-19 positive students to an alternative isolation location.

Tufts experienced one of its most unpredictable periods of the pandemic last week, as cases soared to record-breaking highs on the Medford/Somerville campus in what can only be attributed to the highly-infectious omicron variant.