Clayton Young| @smartguy_92
(Photo by James Brosher/Indiana University)
Bloomington- Indiana University initiated a $20 Crimson Cash incentive on Friday to encourage students to get boosted, Indiana University’s Chief Health Officer, Aaron Carroll, said.
The move from the university comes after a low point in positive cases and individuals in quarantine housing on campus.
“We’re still encouraging vaccination and boostering. . . where if students voluntarily upload their booster information, then they receive $20 in Crimson Cash,” Carroll said.
To claim the $20 Crimson Cash, students must upload a copy of their vaccination card to Indiana University’s vaccine status reporting system. Students who haven’t received the booster can receive it at the university’s Student Health Center, and still be eligible for the incentive.
Receiving the $20 credit takes up to a week to be verified, but once it’s complete, the student can use the credit at local Bloomington shops that accept Crimson Cash.
Indiana University has seen a significant drop in cases over the two weeks, with 69 cases being reported between February 3 and February 9, down from the previous week’s count of 385, according to Kirk White, co-chair of IU Bloomington’s COVID Response Unit.
However, it’s important to note that Indiana University’s symptomatic COVID-19 testing sites closed at noon on February 2 and reopened on February 5, due to the recent winter storm, according to an email sent by John Applegate, IU Bloomington’s Interim Provost.
States across the country have reported a downward slope in coronavirus cases this month, but travel advisories and closings from the recent winter storm have the potential to skew cases into a positive light.
“Worldwide, there’s been a general curve and a drop on how the Omicron virus has happened. . .. You have to wait a couple weeks until you look at it to develop a trend. . . If a test site closes for a couple days in a week, like last week we had a couple snow days. . . or after the holidays,” said Kathy Hewett, Population Health and Outreach manager for the Monroe County Department of Health.
Nearly 31% of the positive cases in Monroe County are individuals ages between 20-29 years old with the daily positive test rate for Monroe County decreasing by 26% since January 16 of this year.
“[Indiana University’s] cases have dramatically declined,” Aaron Carroll said, “The numbers posted on the dashboard this week are significantly less than 10% of what they were just a week ago. Our positivity rate, as well, has plummeted, we are back into the low single digits.”
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