34 of the 3,675 Cambridge students tested last week have asymptomatic COVID-19

The latest update from the University on the Asymptomatic Screening Programme has revealed 34 confirmed positive cases of the virus last week (12-18th October).

28 pools received a positive test and had individual confirmatory tests which showed 27 pools as true positives and one as a false positive.

Across these 27 pools, there were 34 students with individual positive results.

There were a total of 3,675 students living in college accommodation screened and 0.9 per cent tested positive. This is approximately onw student in 111. This compares to 3,463 students tested the week before (5-11th October) with 0.3 per cent of students testing positive.

As well as asymptomatic testing, the university is also offering tests for those experiencing COVID-19 symptoms. There were 411 tests across students and staff and 120 had positive results in the week 12-18th October, compared to the 22 positive cases found in the symptomatic cases in the week of 5th-11th October.

The University is aiming to test every student once every two weeks, so half of each household would be taking a test each week starting from the week beginning the 19th October. The proportion of students who have consented to take part in the programme has increased to 78 per cent up from 75 per cent in the week 5-11th October. 20.8 per cent of students still remain undecided.

Across both symptomatic and asymptomatic testing, there were a total of 154 positive cases identified by the University testing programme in this past week (12th- 18th October).

Featured image: Riana Patel, screenshots from Stay Safe Cambridge Uni