Mercer University recorded the first COVID-19 hospitalization among the Mercer community in its weekly case numbers update Friday.
One student was hospitalized over winter break prior to the start of the spring term. It is not clear whether the student was enrolled on the Macon, Atlanta or Savannah campus.
The hospitalization report was a part of Mercer’s weekly testing and case rate update.
In the update, the university reported that 1233 tests took place between Jan. 15-21. Of those tests, 61 came back positive.
Over half of the COVID-19 cases are students on the Macon campus, with 36 Macon students testing positive for the virus. There were also three faculty and staff cases in Macon.
Mercer University began its weekly publication of COVID-19 testing results for the spring semester Friday.
The university announced that between Dec. 30 and Jan. 14, a total of 4,251 students, faculty and staff were tested for the novel coronavirus across Mercer’s campuses. Of those, 232 people tested positive for COVID-19.
The bulk of the 232 cases came from Mercer’s Macon campus, where 156 students and 18 faculty and staff tested positive for COVID-19. On the Atlanta campus, 48 students and nine faculty and staff tested positive. Only one student on the Savannah campus tested positive.
The university required all Macon traditional undergraduates, College of Pharmacy and College of Health Professions students, Atlanta students in university housing and others who indicated that they had exposure to or symptoms of COVID-19 to be tested prior to the start of classes Jan. 7.