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The Coalition of Graduate Employees was in negotiations with the university for six months to try to establish on-demand testing on campus

The Coalition of Graduate Employees was in negotiations with the university for six months to try to establish on-demand testing on campus

Portrait photos of CGE members Nathan Waugh, Nancy Vargas, and Tilottama Chatterjee.

Tilottama Chatterjee is a biochemistry and biophysics PhD student, as well as a graduate employee at OSU.

“I’m sure TRACE can be cited as random testing," Chatterjee said. "That’s true. I don't think it counts as prevalence testing if its not getting us an accurate measure of the number of cases on campus right now.”

In the latest data from the university, 108 positive cases came from the university during the week of Feb. 18, with another 119 the week prior.

“Cases have been rising ever since January,” Chatterjee said. “If you look at the second week of January, nothing has gone below 50 cases per week. In the last two weeks, it’s gone over 100 cases per week. That coincides perfectly with the reopening of the Dixon Recreation Center.”