Last week, Saint Xavier students received an email detailing the latest Covid protocol being put into place. The email, titled “COVID-19 Protocol Update,” came after months of silence pertaining to the pandemic and its role on campus.
The email stated that as of Feb. 15, students, faculty, and staff will no longer be obligated to report positive COVID tests or exposures to the Health Center. When asked if they were shocked about the school’s latest protocol, all the board members expressed that the change did not actually shock them.
The real shock was the mentioning of COVID again after many months of silence regarding the pandemic.
Sparking up the conversation around the pandemic again led to people recalling past protocols such as masking or social distancing, and if lack of reporting could potentially bring these back.
When asked about the possibility of re-implementing old protocols, a member of the editorial board stated that “[They] doubt it, because even when Covid was still being spread at an astronomical rate, people were fighting against masking and social distancing.”
This raised the question about if people had even thought about Covid protocols lately. One member responded: “I have not really. I am on a team and spend a lot of time around people, so unfortunately, I have been going about normal business.”
Another member focused on how media coverage has affected the Covid protocol by saying, “I honestly haven’t. I know the virus is still going around, but because there’s far less media coverage on it, it’s harder to keep up with the number of cases and protocols.”
This new protocol raises some safety concerns, but it also raises some concerns regarding communication from the school to students.
When asked how they felt about the school no longer tracking positive cases, one board member stated, “I understand that the university, along with many others, are trying to get campus life back to how it was before 2020, but given how deadly the virus is, I think keeping the reporting protocols in place, if nothing else, would be okay.”
It is important for Saint Xavier to have clear communication with all students, so it would be great to know what prompted this new policy change. Was it through regulations from the CDC, or was it a decision the school made of its own accord, and if so, what was the reason for that?
According to Katherine Schlee, the director of Clinical Services at the Health Center, the decision was made on guidance from both the CDC and the CDPH (Chicago Department of Public Health.)
More information regarding the reasoning behind this change in reporting procedures can be found in this week’s news article about the updated protocols.
Another important aspect of the email was the inclusion of the Isolation and Exposure Calculator. The link sends students to the official CDC website where one can read up on the quarantine guidelines, as well as interact with a bot that gives you advice on what you should do depending on your Covid situation. None of the members on the board had heard of this before.
Covid will always be a part of our lives, so it is no surprise that the protocols will continue to be updated. As long as universities and professional establishments continue to have clear communication with everyone about these protocols, it is safe to assume that we will continue pushing forward.
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