Sickness rising among students

USD’s covid guidelines are not doing enough

Maria Simpson / Assistant Opinion Editor / The USD Vista

The 2021-2022 school year is off to a great start so far with in-person classes and a lively atmosphere on campus. However, that peak of normalcy is now being threatened by a rise in on-campus covid cases as well as other illnesses. Anyone on campus recently has heard coughing and sneezing all around, raising a lot of concerns among students.

Amid this swell of sickness, many questions have risen among students. What do we do if we do not feel well? What if we test negative for covid, but we are still sick? Do we miss class? These questions are overwhelming students, unaware of where to turn for answers.

Currently, the majority of USD courses are not prepared to accommodate students who have to miss class for any amount of time. Only one of my classes is recorded and almost all of the others are purely lecture and activity based, with no “at-home make-up” option. After over a year on Zoom I am surprised that more classes are not using the technology to their advantage. This could help encourage students to stay at home when they are feeling under the weather, avoiding the further spread of any illness. 

As of now, USD is only enforcing isolation if the person tested positive for  covid, while students who may possibly have the flu, strep, or other illnesses  are still able to go to classes, meetings, and group gatherings as long as they test negative for covid. 

There is also a risk that vaccinated students who are sick are choosing not to get tested so that they can avoid quarantine. There is no longer a requirement from the school for regular testing for fully vaccinated students, and many are refusing to get tested despite experiencing symptoms that align with covid. 

USD states that vaccinated students do not  have  to get tested according to their COVID-19 Campus Action plan, “At this time, routine covid testing will not be required of those who are fully vaccinated. However, if a fully vaccinated student were to develop symptoms of covid, they should consult with the Student Health Center as testing will likely be recommended.” Even vaccinated people can still get covid so this choice endangers the rest of the student population. 

USD’s current covid guidelines may not be strict enough to truly manage a swell in cases. The university is still requiring masks for everyone indoors regardless of vaccination status. A vaccine requirement for all faculty, staff, and students, and a quarantine and contact tracing strategy is set in place. While these are all great elements to USD’s overall plan, there are still weaknesses in the plan, especially within the quarantine and contact tracing procedures.

I lived on campus last year and these procedures were incredibly strict. All students were tested every other week and every student who received a positive test had to quarantine for 10 days  along with those who they were in close contact with prior to getting their positive test back. This was a very strict (and even slightly annoying) policy, but it helped to control cases from getting out of hand, and that is worth pushing through a little inconvenience. 

This year, anyone in close contact with a positive case is simply emailed an alert with the suggestion to get tested and monitor themselves for symptoms. Many students may choose to ignore this suggestion. And those who do go to get tested may have difficulty accessing tests. I attempted to get tested at one point earlier in the semester, but I found it really difficult to find a location that I could access easily. 

On-campus testing is offered in the Alcala West Storage Facility, but this facility will only be open until Oct. 31 and walk-ins are not guaranteed a test, as I found when I went there. Many students like myself do not have a car on campus, so it is difficult for them to access any testing besides the on-campus site. 

As winter approaches, cases of covid and other sicknesses will likely increase. USD should amend some of their protocols in order to continue in-person experiences and keep the community as safe as possible. Some helpful adjustments could include all professors creating a plan for students who need to stay at home or quarantine to follow. They should use the cameras installed in each classroom to record classes so that all students can keep up with lectures. 

The university should make contact tracing slightly more organized by requiring all contact traced students to be tested rather than just suggesting they take action. Finally, USD needs to make testing, particularly rapid testing, more accessible to students. Returning to in-person learning has been incredible and we do not want to take any risks that would take that away again.

It is important for USD to incorporate effective guidelines that prevent spread of sickness, but they must remember that it is also important for each individual, faculty, staff, or student, to act responsibly if they even come in contact with someone who is sick or if they experience symptoms themselves. We are a community and we need to protect and care for one another.