As students return to campus for the Spring Semester, Ohio University is enforcing stricter mask and testing policies to slow the spread of the COVID-19 omicron variant but will allow classes to be held in-person.
OU President Hugh Sherman announced new COVID-19 guidelines Sunday for in-person gatherings and testing requirements.
One of the new guidelines requires all students living on campus to participate in weekly asymptomatic testing regardless of vaccination status, according to a university-wide email.
“(Testing will) be an annoyance to everyone, including myself … but I also think that it will help in the long run with spreading and with keeping numbers as low as possible and keeping people safe,” Cannon Stoneburner, a freshman studying pre-med, said.
Gillian Ice, special assistant to the president for public health operations, said more positive COVID-19 cases are expected this spring.
“I anticipate that we will have a surge that's well beyond what we saw in the fall,” Ice said. “We already have signs of that.”
Students have returned to campus with varying opinions of whether they feel safe on campus with COVID-19 transmission and infection rates being high.
“I'm nervous,” Rhiannon Thomas, a freshman studying criminology, said. “I actually had omicron over Christmas break, (and) my whole family did. It was kind of crappy … I was really surprised that they let us back on campus, to be honest, because I know a lot of other places are (going) virtual for the first couple weeks. I'm definitely going to be masking up everywhere I go.”
Ice announced new face mask requirements during a press conference Wednesday. Cloth masks, neck gaiters, bandanas, masks with valves and ski masks will no longer be accepted as alternatives to medical-grade masks. Starting Jan. 10, students will be expected to wear KN95, N95, KF94 or three-ply surgical masks.
“We're probably not in a position to supply an endless supply of masks to balance the budget,” Ice said. “But we are going to get people started.”
A limited supply of masks can be found at Ping Recreation Center and the information desk in Baker University Center located on the fourth floor as well as the second- and fourth-floor service desks in Alden Library.
Students have responded to the university’s new mask requirements with understanding as well as concern.
“I don't think there's any huge effect on myself because I don't think that an N95 feels any different than a cloth mask,” Stoneburner said. “I do think that they are harder to come by, and I think that could be a bit of a concern just for people acquiring them and keeping them around. Cloth masks are a lot easier to find.”
Wearing a different type of mask will not be an issue, Thomas agreed, but they can break easily and cannot be reused.
Social distancing will continue to be encouraged in classrooms, but class size will not differ from last semester’s guidelines. However, university dining halls will have implemented social distancing in their seating arrangements, Ice said.
Sherman said in-person classes would be prioritized as the university deals with the spread of COVID-19. However, he encouraged other in-person events, such as club meetings or gatherings, to consider moving their meetings to virtual formats.
“Hypothetically, if there was a very low infection rate … that would be a time for us to say, ‘We've got 90% of the campus that's vaccinated’ — we'll ask the question at that time — ‘Can we start doing without masks?’” Sherman said in December. “But because of omicron, I really don't think it'll change until we get to March. I think that's the best possibility, (but) we don't know what's gonna happen with omicron.”
