As of January 10, U of T’s COVID-19 tracking website has been suspended and will no longer report the number of cases in the U of T community or on campus. According to an update on the website, the reason for the suspension is recent changes to the province’s “case and contact management,” which has been adjusted to prioritize case control and contact tracing in high-risk settings. For this reason, U of T is no longer being informed of positive cases in the community.
The update comes at a time when cases of COVID-19 are soaring in the province and, in recent weeks, across U of T. Previously, the dashboard was used to document the number of positive cases in the U of T community — including community members who hadn’t been on campus — and on-campus outbreaks. In total, the dashboard reported 16 outbreaks of COVID-19 across U of T’s three campuses and 556 positive cases in the broader community between March 2020 and December 24, 2021.
In a previous statement given to The Varsity on January 7, a spokesperson for the university indicated that the dashboard was one of the university’s main methods for informing the larger community about cases on campus. Three days later, the dashboard was suspended.
In a recent statement to The Varsity, a U of T spokesperson wrote, “[The university’s] occupational health team will continue to track any cases reported to them, and to provide communication to those identified through the contract tracing process.”
Students who have COVID-19 symptoms and have been on a U of T campus are being asked to contact an occupational health nurse.
