Since the beginning of COVID-19, Pace University has been transparent about the COVID-19 cases on campus. The COVID dashboard is updated daily with the latest information on the number of tests, new cases, people in quarantine, etc. This gave many students a good idea of how the virus spreads on campus.

The COVID-19 dashboard can help resident students determine whether they want to go into the classroom and spend time in the common areas. Commuter students can use this dashboard to determine whether they want to come to campus at all. However, there seemed to have been some questions on the accuracy of the dashboard within the Pace community.

On February 6 at 2:27 p.m., Dean for Students Rachel Carpenter sent out an e-mail with the message that 25 students had tested positive for COVID-19 and that 50 additional students had to quarantine after contact tracing had been done. However, nearly a day after the e-mail had been sent, the dashboard reflected that only 14 students had tested positive and that 17 students were in quarantine. Another day had passed, and the numbers still weren’t updated.

“The COVID-19 Dashboard is a compilation of testing, case, and quarantine/isolation capacity,” stated Senior Director of Public Affairs at Pace Jerry Mckinstry. “Cases reflect student, staff, and faculty members testing positive from on-campus testing or self-reporting positive results from off-campus testing reported throughout a given day. The information is updated daily.”

This situation remains unclear. Can the Pace community continue to rely on the COVID-19 dashboard, or do we have to rely on further emails to get the correct numbers?

It is important for Pace students to understand that we are still in the midst of a global pandemic and that it is very important to follow the rules of the local government and the University. No matter what the numbers are on campus, or what the dashboard reflects, we should all continue to wear our masks, wash our hands, social distance, and keep our campus safe.