Cornell University is seeing a spike in COVID-19 cases this week, which is a worrying sign given that the Ithaca, NY school outbreak proved to be a precursor to Omicron’s surge late last year.
On March 23, the university reported 172 positive Covid cases, the most in a single day since the mid-December spike that hit the school, and surpassing the January peak of 156 cases in a single day.
This is a 421% increase in cases in six days compared to 33 cases reported on March 17.
Mid-December was the last time such cases spiked, with the school registering a record 329 cases on the 15th.
The school proved to be the site of the first wave of Omicrons in America and served as a harbinger of the coming destructive wave.
With the stealth variant causing outbreaks in Europe in recent weeks, some fear the next spike could be just around the corner in the US, with Cornell once again serving as a warning flag.
Cornell University is experiencing its biggest spike in Covid since mid-December, with 172 cases reported on March 23.
More than 95% of students and staff at Cornell University are vaccinated and 92% are boosted, the school says. Officials blame the recent cancellation of orders for masks for the surge.
“COVID-19 cases on the Ithaca campus are rising above our forecasts, indicating significant prevalence of the virus on campus,” University Chancellor Mike Kotlikoff, Vice President of Student Life Ryan Lombardi and Vice President Mary Opperman said in a statement.
From time to time, the university will record days with more than 100 cases of COVID-19, but with 151 cases on March 22, a clear trend is emerging.
On January 6, the last time the number of Covid cases reached the triple digit mark, after which they declined rapidly.
Of the 172 cases, the school reports 142 cases among undergraduate students, 16 among graduate students, and 14 among campus staff and faculty.
On March 14, the school lifted most of the mask-wearing requirements on campus, which was done quite late compared to many other institutions.
Within two weeks of this order, the number of cases began to rise again, and Cornell’s management points to this change due to the recent increase.
They also point to an “invisible” variant of the BA.2 Omicron that is spreading across much of the world.
“This growing transmission is likely due to a number of factors, including easing of mask-wearing requirements, the emergence of the BA.2 option, and increased social activity,” they wrote.
“While the health consequences of the infection remain negligible for those who are fully vaccinated/boosted, academic disruption and isolation requirements for infected students force us to respond to this increase in the spread of COVID.”
In response to a recent surge in cases, the school has moved to code yellow, instructing students to stay home if they feel unwell and wear masks at social gatherings and events.
“Most of the positive cases reported on campus are due to symptomatic testing, which tells us that there are even more asymptomatic cases in our community. Please continue to take appropriate public health precautions,” the management wrote.
Cornell students were forced to take an early winter break last year when campus closed and were sent home to finish the semester remotely due to a growing number of cases.
In a matter of days, the number of cases at the university increased from a dozen to more than 250.
All of the cases from that initial surge that were sequenced were confirmed cases of Omicron, and it turned out to be the first surge of the variant that eventually led the country to hit a record 800,000 cases per day in mid-January.
While the Omicron variant has already run its course, with cases down more than 95 percent since the strain peaked in mid-January, the stealth variant poses a new threat.
This variant is nicknamed due to its ability to avoid detection by some sequencing methods. Thought to be the most contagious version of Covid, it is just as mild as the Omicron BA.1 version that took over the world last year.
BA.2 accounts for 35 percent of active Covid cases in the US, with BA.1 still dominating, according to the latest data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week.
However, BA.2’s share of Covid infections in America is rising, with the variant accounting for just 23 percent of cases in the previous week.
Some are warning that it is too early for Americans to let their guard down, and with Covid-related mandates and restrictions now a thing of the past virtually everywhere in the US, there is now an option for that option.
The situation at Cornell is particularly alarming, with more than 95 percent of students and staff vaccinated and 92 percent boosted.
Nevertheless, the tension managed to take root in the community.
“We are all ready for the pandemic to end, but we must continue to confront the realities of COVID-19 and its impact on our ability to support the campus community,” Cornell’s leadership wrote.