"The epidemic outbreak of this Fall semester undoubtedly represents that COVID-19 is far from over," Shoulin Luo writes in her opinion. Photo courtesy of Wikicommons / National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Shoulin Luo | Sept. 19, 2022 12:08 p.m.
Staff Writer

The Fall 2022 semester began with a bumpy start for students, COVID-19 surging across the FSC campus once again. Are you, uh, still wearing your mask?

Most people have put the pandemic behind them and have largely returned to their normal lives. More people have accepted the days of living with the virus, but with the recent outbreak of COVID-19 (again) at FSC, fear has evolved into a habit. 

With a mutant strain of Omicron wreaking havoc around the world, COVID-19 seems to have become another “circulating virus.” On August 21, the Fall 2022 semester began, but the epidemic on campus has become an ongoing challenge for the FSC community. Many students, professors, and school staff tested positive for COVID-19 before classes began. 

As a result, many courses are canceled or switched to online distance learning in the first week of classes. One student on campus said that her first chemistry class was online because her professor had a positive diagnosis. 

Staff are trying to keep campus safe: campus dormitories, public restrooms, laundry rooms, dining rooms and classrooms should be disinfected and cleaned before the new semester begins. COVID-19 has spread to our campus, and the U.S. is yet to contain the outbreak. In fact, as of March 14, 2022, the mandatory restriction on wearing masks was lifted. After the masks were lifted, the number of confirmed cases on campus increased significantly.

Protecting the health of others is key to ensuring that the virus does not come back on campus. At this time, it is necessary to publicize scientific pandemic prevention on campus. Students give full play to their own advantages and popularize scientific knowledge of epidemic prevention. Knowing the proper defense against the spread of COVID-19 will better protect themselves and others. This is also a call to disseminate scientific knowledge of epidemic prevention.

At the same time, with the global pandemic gradually under control and the popularity of the COVID-19 vaccine, FSC advised students to get fully vaccinated against COVID-19. If not vaccinated, students were required to receive the COVID-19 test qualification report within the specified time. According to the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) statistics, the increase in cases and deaths after COVID-19 vaccination continued to decrease, as did the overall increase in diagnoses and deaths in the United States. 

The epidemic outbreak of this Fall semester undoubtedly represents that COVID-19 is far from over. Pandemic prevention work on campus is still the top priority, and we should always be vigilant against future outbreaks.

On Sept. 3, the FSCares team updated campus policies to ensure that students who test positive are better cared for while keeping uninfected students safe. It is important to keep in mind the safety of your fellow students by isolating to keep healthy campus order, in conjunction with federal policy and the advice of your medical advisor.

We want to promote the right way to prevent the spread of COVID-19. When facing the spread of COVID-19 correctly, the correct pandemic prevention is not terrible. I appeal to everyone not to believe in false knowledge of COVID-19 prevention, not to believe in rumors and not spread rumors.

In order to strengthen personal protection, students are also urged to wear masks when entering public places on campus, such as classrooms, restaurants, libraries, etc., anytime, anywhere. Maintain social distancing in public places. It is recommended to use public chopsticks in the cafeteria and prepare cutlery to avoid mixing. The school pays attention to disinfection according to the peak hours of meals. After using public facilities, wash hands with running water immediately after contact.

To prevent and control COVID-19 cases on campus, the school is promoting vaccinations. The school cleaning staff also regularly cleans common areas on weekly basis. Meanwhile, hand sanitizer, alcohol, and single-use items are everywhere in the cafeteria. Inside campus buildings, students are advised to wear masks or wash their hands frequently and maintain safe social distance to reduce the spread of the virus. Students with similar symptoms should be warned to wear masks to protect themselves and other students, and then get tested to reduce transmission rates. Students are also urged to use their medications properly to ensure their safety.

While COVID-19 has become a part of our lives, preventing and how to control the spread of COVID-19 is the key to school management that needs to continue. Only reasonable publicity and scientific prevention can ensure the health and safety of teachers and students in the whole school. Through the work, the prevention and control knowledge and technical operation ability of countless families behind this large group have been further improved, which indirectly promoted the prevention and control of COVID-19 in a larger group, and reduced the burden of social prevention and control.

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