The university reported a decline to 60 active COVID-19 cases on campus according to the university's online COVID-19 dashboard.
4,587 cases have been reported to the university since Jan. 1, according to data USC released on Tuesday. Of the 60 active cases, 49 are students and 11 are faculty and staff.
This is a decrease of 92 cases since last week's total of 152 active cases. The university has seen a steady decrease in cases since January.
At a 2.2% positivity rate for students, about one in 50 students who got tested from Feb. 6 to Feb. 12 tested positive.
This falls below South Carolina's positivity rate of 11.5%. There are currently 845 new cases in South Carolina, according to data the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control reported on Feb. 15.
Interim university President Harris Pastides said in a message to the Carolina community during the first week of class that he expects a surge of cases throughout January and February.
"I'm hopeful that, in a couple of months, the worst of Omicron will be behind us," Pastides said in the email. "In the meantime, the university will continue to encourage physical distancing and safe gathering practices, require masks in classrooms and other indoor spaces, mandate universal testing at intervals dictated by the data, require isolation of those with positive test results for the period recommended by national and state public health authorities, and encourage vaccination and boosters for all."
Approximately 71% of students, 68% of staff and 82% of faculty are vaccinated, the university reported.
USC students, faculty and staff can get tested and vaccinated on campus. Monthly student testing is required.
USC's COVID-19 dashboard calculates an alert level based on 11 factors including campus testing, isolation capacity and campus case burden. The current alert level is set at new normal.
USC updates its COVID-19 dashboard every Tuesday.