The Coronavirus pandemic has been affecting everyone for the past three years. Although things have been looking up, this week at SUNY Cortland, there has been a surge in cases.
For the fall 2022 semester, the mask restriction has been lifted, as well as social distancing restrictions and students have had a sense of normalcy. With that being said, has this hurt or helped the campus?
Looking at the SUNY COVID-19 tracker online, there has been 3.3 million campus administered tests, of those there have been 21,062 positive cases to date.
One reason for this surge is due to the school no longer requiring vaccines and/or booster shots. Though everyone would love to believe that the pandemic is over, it is essential that all faculty and students, both on and off campus, do their best to stay safe.
After talking to some students on campus, it is clear that no one wants to go back to the strict rules set in 2020.
Jennifer, a junior now living off campus says, “We have come so far from my freshman year here, it really would be a huge step backwards if having to return to following those guidelines.”
This opinion is shared with many upperclassmen here on campus. As it would be a “huge step backwards,” it is a very high possibility if students are not willing to put in the effort required to move passed the pandemic. It would restrict all students and faculty members from being able to get a full education as well as a beneficial college experience that those before COVID-19 were able to have.
According to the CDC website, it is reported that the daily average of new cases is at 60,831, meaning that the United States average is technically going down. However, as reported from the past two winters during the pandemic, the fall and winter are dangerous times for a high spike in cases.
Analyzing the “Community Levels County Chart,” one can see that Cortland County is in the medium category as of Sep. 15. However, one must keep in mind that there is less testing being conducted.
Chris Murray, the director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluations, “expects to see infections start to increase next month and continue to rise through the winter,” as he reports to NBC. Though many will be reluctant, with the omicron wave and the discovery of ‘long Covid’ symptoms, the public should be ready and willing to take extensive precautions.
It is predicted that when the colder season rolls around, one can expect that testing kits will quickly sell out, and there will be long lines awaiting for tests and results. Reported by NBC news, “laboratories that process PCR tests have also cut their capacity by a third,” as more people have gotten at home tests or not wanted to test themselves at all.
Jack Feng, CEO of iHealth states to NBC news that, “We are always convinced there will be an end, but it always comes back.” For it will take a group effort and people to educate themselves for us to finally put an end to it.