New coronavirus cases among UCLA students and staff double over previous month

UCLA’s total number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases among students and staff stands at 14, the university announced Saturday, a figure that is twice the previous month’s number of cases.

For all of March, the university had counted seven confirmed cases. That number doubled in the last four days.

“The increased availability of testing for COVID-19 will reveal more cases in our campus and local communities,” the university said in a statement posted on its website.

The new cases included students in off-campus housing not owned by the university, the statement said. Only one staffer confirmed positive for the virus appeared to have been working on campus in the last week, according to the statement.

Others exposed to the staffers and students confirmed to have the virus “will be notified if they need to be isolated or tested,” the UCLA statement said.

COVID-19 cases have been on a precipitous rise in California, across the country and the globe, as most people remain in quarantine, self-isolation or lockdown to try and slow the spread of the virus.