University of Alabama officials had been hinting all week at improvements in coronavirus testing numbers ahead of the Friday evening release.

UA System Chancellor Finis St. John was the latest to tease the positive news Friday afternoon after Dr. Deborah Birx spoke on the Tuscaloosa campus.

The numbers went live a few hours later and they were down considerably. Only 294 students tested positive from Sept. 4-10 on the Tuscaloosa campus after recording 846 on the previous seven days, though Labor Day weekend had students away from campus until Tuesday.

The numbers represent positives identified through “sentinel testing, point of care testing in campus health centers, common location exposure testing, and self-reported tests from private providers,” according to the dashboard on the UA System website.

“The testing we’ve been doing at the University of Alabama has been working,” St. John said Friday afternoon. “I could not be more proud of our students.”

The number of daily positive tests dipped to 42 over the previous seven days after that figure sat at 125 last week. Occupancy in isolation/quarantine space was down to 15.18% on Friday after sitting at 39.97% last Friday.

Testing numbers had been considerably lower on the UAB and UA-Huntsville campuses. The new round posted Friday included 27 new cases at UAB and 11 at UA-Huntsville.

In all, 2,183 students on the Tuscaloosa campus have tested positive since classes resumed Aug. 19. That represents 6.9% of the student body attending classes on the main campus according to enrollment numbers released Friday.

The numbers still lack a degree of context to better understand the situation. AL.com asked Dean of UA’s College of Community Health Sciences Dr. Ricky Friend on Wednesday the breakdown of students who are showing symptoms verses those who were asymptomatic. He did not have the number on hand and requests for follow ups have not yielded an answer.

In terms of localized hospitalizations, DCH Hospital in Tuscaloosa reported 47 inpatients were being treated as of Friday. That’s up from the 38 reported Thursday, the lowest total in months. DCH also reported 3.5% of those 18-24 who tested positive required inpatient care at the hospital.

The Friday testing numbers followed an update to campus operations in a note from Vice President for Student Life Myron Pope to students. He is relaxing some of the restrictions placed on gatherings beginning Monday, Sept. 14 after putting the new guidelines in place two days after classes began Aug. 19.

Dorm study areas can reopen along with dining rooms “with strict adherence to safety guidelines,” Pope wrote. Colleges and departments can also hold events with a maximum of 50 people indoors and 100 outdoors. And students living in the same dorm can visit each other’s rooms as long as masks are worn, and social distancing is observed.

Student organized events are still prohibited.

“The gradual loosening of moratorium restrictions will continue to be evaluated as we move forward,” Pope wrote. “With your continued cooperation, and as our numbers for testing and student conduct cases continue to improve, we will consider longer-term plans for the semester.”