The B.1.1.7 COVID variant has been identified in the county and is likely on campus or will be in the near future, St. Joseph County deputy health officer Mark Fox said in a weekly COVID-19 update newsletter sent to the Notre Dame community.
As COVID-19 variants are thought to be more transmissible, University officials urged students to continue following public health protocols.
In a video discussion last week, Fox said Notre Dame students are becoming reinfected with COVID-19, as many students who were previously infected have passed the 90-day threshold.
“A lot of students got infected with the outbreak in August, and now we’re at the perfect window for them to be reinfected,” Fox said.
Fox also mentioned that 35% to 40% of the cases in St. Joseph County were related to Notre Dame in the first few weeks after University students returned to campus.
The Feb. 17 record of 56 cases is the highest daily number of positive infections since the spring semester began.
