College campuses across Georgia seeing sharp decline in COVID-19 cases

KENNESAW, Ga. — The University of Georgia confirmed to Channel 2 Action News on Wednesday that COVID-19 cases on campus have dropped 85% in just the past two weeks.

Channel 2 investigative reporter Justin Gray learned that other colleges across the state are seeing similar drops.

Atiyyah Sanders said she’s careful on the Kennesaw State University campus, but she feels like the school is working to keep her safe.

“I mask up all the time regardless of where I’m at,” Sanders said. “There’s hand sanitizers all around campus, there’s posters about getting vaccinated, wear your mask.”

The numbers on college campuses across Georgia show a dramatic decrease in the number of COVID-19 cases after a big spike in the days after students returned to campus.

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Just two weeks ago, UGA reported 515 weekly cases. Now, it’s down to 77. At Kennesaw State, they dropped from 247 cases to 110.

While state colleges and universities in Georgia are not allowed to require masks or vaccines, UGA officials told Gray that they believe their incentive programs, including raffles with cash giveaways, have helped.

“I think just through all the efforts of testing, of vaccination and education, our numbers have really, really come down,” said UGA Medical Oversight Chair Dr. Shelly Nuss.

State officials told Gray they are seeing similar trends down in cases at all state colleges and universities.

The 7-day moving average of cases at Georgia Tech was at 26 two weeks ago. It’s now down to five as of Wednesday.

Emory University is private and requires vaccines and masks. That campus also has seen a dramatic drop in the 7-day average, from 25 down to just three.

Nuss said part of the decline is likely due to the nature of the delta variant — with a rapid rise in cases and a rapid decline.

“We’ve seen this not only in Georgia, but across the country and the world,” Nuss said.

A lot of the schools are also doing surveillance testing, and the numbers there are good too.

UGA told Gray it only found eight asymptomatic students last week out of more than 1,200 they tested.

That’s less than 1% and the lowest percentage since they started testing.

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