Opinion: Any campus outbreak could spill over into the surrounding community, precipitating new lockdowns in the towns where they are located. As a result, university openings should be strictly regulated by state public health officials
Create and enforce physical distancingUniversities’ physical spaces need to be reimagined and redesigned to minimize the risk of Covid-19 transmission.
Ideally, students should have single rooms, alone or in larger suites. Classrooms will need to be “de-densified” by spreading out students more than 6 feet apart. Larger lectures may be impossible to organize in person and will have to be converted to remote Zoom format. Student meals will have to be shifted to takeaway or “grab and sit” in a well-spaced dining hall — no more food counter service and salad bars. Student flow through libraries will also have to be limited and closely monitored.
Likewise, activities like campus concerts, parties, and fraternity events need to be kept off the calendar, along with most athletic contests. . Lastly, each university must have a serious and coherent plan for shutting down quickly and in an orderly fashion during the semester should there be a resurgence of Covid-19 that cannot be contained. Students will need to know in advance what will happen to their classes, their belongings and how they can travel safely back home.
Beyond such extensive and detailed plans, there is also the issue of compliance — in fact, compliance might turn out to be the biggest challenge of all. Will students wear their masks? Will they maintain social distancing? Will they avoid the temptation to organize a covert dorm party? The experience of thein Florida, when students from around the country flocked to beaches just as the pandemic was hitting in force, doesn’t bode well.
If we hurry to reopen universities without these needed plans and safeguards in place, we will be putting at great risk the progress we have made over the past two months in stopping Covid-19. University officials may justifiably worry about losing money if they stay closed, but the rest of us may lose much more — unless they do it right.
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