On January 7th, students received an email stating that in response to the recent rise in COVID-19 cases and the OMICRON variant, they will be holding a vaccine and testing event on the 11th. However, the quarantine protocol remains ten days for unvaccinated people, and Winthrop continues not to require quarantine for vaccinated students.
In addition, Winthrop is in the process of providing Antigen Tests for students to take for a fee. Winthrop clarifies that they strongly encourage vaccinations for students and staff and report any contact with COVID-positive people. It is also important to remember that if you test positive, you have to email the Health Office to verify absences due to COVID.
COVID cases have steadily risen recently, especially with the new Omicron variant. The CDC reported 705,264 new cases on January 5th (according to the CDC), and 95% of those cases were the Omicron variant.
Winthrop is not the only school sending its students back in-person though, USC, Clemson, and CofC are all returning to school with no significant changes in their safety guidelines.
According to the COVID-19 dashboard that Winthrop provides, from January 10th-16th, there have been 27 positive student cases and nine positive employees.
In a more recent email on January 18th from the Interim President, George Hynd, students received another update on Winthrop’s COVID response and more encouragement for the unvaccinated to get vaccinated.
Hynd stated how 74% of in-person students are fully vaccinated. Hynd also described how Winthrop prevented 200 students from returning to their dorms and in-person classes because they tested positive.
This email provides hopeful insights for the future of our campus community. It shows that Winthrop has a higher percentage of vaccinated individuals than the state of South Carolina itself, but for many of us, even if we are vaccinated, we are putting older and, or immunocompromised people at risk.
It is important to remember that unvaccinated people aren’t required to quarantine, even if they come in contact with a COVID-positive person. However, it is still possible to spread the disease and become sick even when vaccinated, being that the vaccine’s primary purpose is to help someone if they get COVID.
Schools are in a challenging position. Transitioning to virtual learning environments is not only tough on Winthrop’s faculty and staff resources, but also the mental and physical health of students paying to go here. However, lives are more at risk than ever with the rise of the incredibly infectious Omicron variant, and virtual learning may be the more viable option in the near future.
The RMR will continue to update the campus community as more information comes out.
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