In an achievement that belies its name, the Susan Wakil Health Building received over 170 COVID-19 case alerts this semester, by far the most of any campus building.
There were almost 2,000 COVID-19 location alerts issued on campus this semester, peaking in late March with almost 300 case locations reported in Week 4. This broadly reflects wider trends in case numbers across the state.
Just 10 buildings accounted for half of all case alerts issued. After Susan Wakil, the next most blighted buildings were Carslaw, the Abercrombie Building, and the New Law complex.
The vast majority of buildings received less than 50 case alerts, with only 13 receiving 50 or more, and just five receiving over 100.
The three rooms that received the most alerts were Lecture Theatre 104 in the New Law Building Annex, Teaching Studio 316 in the Wilkinson Building, and Room 202 in the Susan Wakil Health Building. The Students’ Representative Council in the Wentworth Building basement received over 25 alerts.
Case alerts in the Susan Wakil Building were 40 per cent higher than in Carslaw, the second-most affected building. The high relative caseload is unsurprising given the in-person nature of most health sciences classes and the involvement of students in clinical placements, which require notification of positive results. Alerts in other buildings are likely to be significantly undercounted.
Case locations for the last seven days are displayed on the University’s website by the COVID-19 Taskforce, based on self-reports of staff and students who test positive.
