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THURSDAY March 4, 2021

THE DAILY ILLINI The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871

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Vol. 150 Issue 37

B117 stabilizes in CU during nationwide surge Variant cases in community, on campus contrast US exponential growth

BY AMRITA BHATTACHARYYA STAFF WRITER

Cases of the COVID-19 variant B.1.1.7 are currently stable in C-U, contrasting the nationwide exponential growth of the virus which is doubling every 10 days. The B.1.1.7 variant is known to be more contagious compared to other variants with 2,400 reported cases nationwide as of Sunday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “In the next four to six weeks, there is an expectation that B.1.1.7 may become the predominant strain in the U.S.,” Awais Vaid, deputy administrator of the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District, said. Rebecca Smith, epidemiologist and co-leader of the SHIELD team, expects an

increase in cases on campus as time goes on. Since the start of the year, there have been 13 confirmed cases of the B.1.1.7 variant on campus and 56 suspected cases. There are 67 reported cases of the B.1.1.7 variant in Illinois total as of Sunday. The campus daily sees about one to two suspected cases of the B.1.1.7 variant, according to Nigel Goldenfeld, COVID-19 modeler for the University and professor in Engineering. Goldenfeld says the lack of a significant increase in cases is partially attributable to the “incredibly effective” sur veillance testing that SHIELD does, due to quick test results and isolation of positive cases. To test for B.1.1.7, the

Reported cases of B117 variant

600

as of March 3

500 400 300 200 100 0

Florida

Michigan

California

BY CHIEH HSU & WILLIE CUI STAFF WRITERS

The Food and Drug Administration approved the University’s COVID-19 saliva test on Monday for emergency use. With this Emergency Use Authorization, the U of I system can “broadly expand its covidSHIELD testing beyond its universities,” according to the University. “It’s good because it is a good test,” said Christopher Brooke, assistant professor in LAS at the University. “It’s really been a success to keep the infection rate really low. The test took about a month to develop, and it could have been done more broadly, nationally and made a huge difference.”

Illinois

SEE VARIANT | 3A

Ever since the University backtracked its previous claim of approval, Illinois has pushed for an EUA, submitting its test to the FDA on Dec. 30, for approval in order to expand the use of its saliva test across the state of Illinois. “We look forward to SHIELD’s implementation in Urbana, particularly in neighborhoods where our most vulnerable populations live,” said Diane Marlin, mayor of Urbana, in an interview last December. The test may be conducted in laboratories designated by the University that are certified under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CILA) and “meet requirements to perform high complexity tests,” according to the EUA. However, the FDA notes that the test should be used in conjunction with other medical information to determine whether someone is infected. “Positive results are indicative of the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA; clinical correlation with patient

Wisconsin

Source: Center for Disease Control CASSIDY BRANDT THE DAILY ILLINI

RSOs balance virtual, inperson events in spring

FDA authorizes UI saliva test for emergency use U of I system expands COVID-19 test to other schools

Texas

of our competitions were canceled,” said Julia Martz, president of Illini women’s soccer club. In the fall, different sports clubs were assigned different levels of activity depending on the level of contact and the risk of COVID-19. Sports such as golf continued to compete as they were able to comply; however, close contact sports could not compete. “We need to get a negative test, and we only take our masks off during water breaks,” Martz said regarding maintaining precautions while practicing. “Though we get to practice, the social aspect is still missing for us since we are friends and like to hang out apart from practice.” RSO’s for performance arts are facing a similar dilemma due to the lack of audiences and platforms because of the pandemic. There are fewer competitions and performances, with most of them shifting to virtual platforms. “It is difficult to meet up during the pandemic, but we have been able to rehearse in person three hours a week,” Dillon Maguigad, president of No Comment A Cappella, said. The group would typically get three rehearsals (nine hours) per week. “We did participate in a competition last semester and have had virtual concerts this semester, as well as last semester,” Maguigad said when asked about changes in the group’s performance due to the pandemic. “The virtual events are more like recorded videos and focus more on production editing.”

BY PAYAL RATHORE STAFF WRITER

PHOTO COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

Illinois professor Christopher Byron poses for a professional headshot. Byron is leading a team that is trying to understand how COVID-19 saliva tests work on patients in the early stages of the virus.

UI, National Institute of Health research testing optimization

Many in-person events of Registered Student Organizations have shifted online to be compliant with University social distancing policies. While performance arts and sports-related RSOs are able to practice in-person with certain restrictions, most academic and pre-professional RSOs have adapted virtual settings for their activities. Registered Student Organizations are an important means for students to interact with their peers and form connections across campus. The pandemic, however, has impacted the ability to socialize as many RSOs shift their activities to virtual platforms. “A majority of events that we are hosting are virtual, since many of our active members are off campus, and we don’t want anyone missing out on any event,” said Aaron Guo, president of the University’s accounting club. The accounting club now invites accounting firms to give virtual presentations. Social events are held via Zoom and include movie and trivia nights. “Hands-on activities are a bit difficult to plan right now,” Guo said. “However, if we do have an in-person event, we will have to ensure that everyone present gets tested and that there is social distancing in place.” While sports teams continue to practice, competitions and other related events stand canceled for a majority of close contact sports. “We are still able to practice; however, a majority payalr2@dailyillini.com

tive or put into quarantine through contact tracing. In order to prevent the “You’re not contagious spread of COVID-19 effi- the whole time you’re ciently, a testing system infected,” Brooke said. “A that identifies patients in lot of people will test posiSEE TEST | 3A the early stage of their dis- tive a long time after they ease is essential. In light of are infected, well after they this, a collaborative proj- stop being contagious. ” ect between the University Brooke’s group is part of of Illinois and the National the Clinical Research Core Institute of Health inquires at the University of Masthe optimal way to employ sachusetts Medical School a COVID-19 diagnosis test. and funded by the Rapid “One of the huge short- Acceleration of Diagnoscomings of our response to tics project at the NIH. this virus “The NIH w a s t he took the lit“This research is giving us effective tle study we a high-resolution picture deployhave plantment of here of how this virus replicates e d diagnosand elevattic testing over time in people and how ed it severresources,” well it’s being picked up by al orders of said Chrisdifferent testing methods.” magnitude,” t o p h e r Brooke said. Brooke, Although CHRISTOPHER BROOKE a s s i s t a n t ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN MICROBIOLOGY saliva tests profesuse a nonCAMERON KRASUCKI THE DAILY ILLINI sor in LAS invasive A University COVID-19 test site worker hands a student a at the University. “If that sample extraction methfunnel at the ARC testing site on Feb. 1. The University’s saliva had been done capably at od, it requires a processtest has received FDA emergency authorization. an appropriate scale early, ing facility and a few hours I think we would’ve saved of wait time to process the a lot of lives.” results. On the other hand, Brooke is the principal rapid antigen tests, where investigator for the col- the tests use nose swabs laborative project. Accord- to extract the samples, can ing to Brooke, most stud- be done quicker with little ies are done after a patient machinery. However, it’s has been treated at the hos- still not totally understood pital and late in the infec- how good a job they do at tion process. In contrast, detecting people while or the aim of his group is to before they are contagious, understand how the tests according to Brooke. work on patients in the “This research is giving Opinions: Celebrate Features: Alumni early stages. With the Unius a high-resolution picUnofficial, be brings TikTok versity’s frequent testing ture of how this virus repKENYON EDMOND THE DAILY ILLINI COVID-19 safe to the office policy, Brooke can reach licates over time in peo- Students learn about various RSOs at Quad Day on Aug. 26, out to students who have 2018. The majority of RSOs have had to move their activities PAGE 6A very recently tested posiSEE RESEARCH | 3A online since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. PAGE 4A BY CHIEH HSU STAFF WRITER

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