Americans have made many efforts to slow down the nationwide spread of COVID-19, the new coronavirus sweeping across the world. Grade schools have temporarily closed their doors. Companies are increasingly asking their employees to work from home. And in highly infected areas, even storefronts have decided to shut down for the time being.
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Colleges and universities, however, have been slower to respond in such a way. Although a handful of institutions, including the University of Washington and Stanford University, have finally opted to close down their campuses and move operations completely online, the vast majority of colleges and universities are still holding class as usual.
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Yet, similar to cruise ships, college campuses can be hotbeds for disease transmission, as classroom settings, dormitories and dining halls bring students in close proximity to others for hours at a time.
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So to help students keep COVID-19 away, The University Network (TUN) gathered advice from two public health professionals working in higher education.
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Brian Labus<\/a> is an assistant professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. And Nellie Brown<\/a> is the director of workplace health and safety programs for the Worker Institute at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations. Diseases like COVID-19 spread when someone infected with the virus coughs or sneezes droplets into the air. If these infected droplets make their way to your nose or mouth, you become at risk of contracting the virus. The droplets only travel up to about six feet in the air, both experts have explained, but they can fall down onto commonly-touched surfaces like desks, chairs, whiteboards, door knobs and the keyboards of open laptops. If you touch those surfaces and then touch your face, as most people do 23 times an hour<\/a>, you become at risk of infection. That’s why the most important thing for you to do is regularly wash your hands with soap and water, Labus explains. And if that\u2019s not an option, use hand sanitizer. But, be careful washing your hands in a public restroom like in the library or dormitory, Brown warns, as many public sinks still have manual faucets that require you to touch the faucet handle both before and after washing your hands. To keep the germs off, Brown suggests using your elbow or a paper towel to turn off the faucet. And if you\u2019re in a paper-free bathroom and are unable to use your elbow, she advises thoroughly washing down the faucet handle with soap and water. In addition, both experts recommend practicing social distancing. In the classroom, that means staying as far away as possible from your peers, Labus explains. And socially, it\u2019s best to avoid skin-to-skin contact. That means no hand-shaking or even fist-bumping. \u201cWe may need to go back to nodding heads and bowing,\u201d Brown says with a laugh. But in all seriousness, \u201cwe are used to hugging and shaking hands,\u201d Brown explains. \u201cIt does seem very cold to not do that, but this is the way fluids spread.\u201d Really, this is something you should be doing all the time, Brown adds. \u201cJust because we are talking about coronavirus doesn\u2019t mean the other diseases go away. If we got data on the flu all the time the way we got data on coronavirus, I think people would be appalled at the numbers.\u201d Amidst the coronavirus outbreak, many people throughout the world have rushed to purchase respiratory masks as a method to keep the germs away. The influx in demand for such masks have caused their prices to soar, sometimes into the hundreds. However, Brown and others are hesitant to support the widespread usage of these masks. She points out that people who aren\u2019t used to wearing masks tend to continuously reach to readjust them, causing them to touch their face repeatedly with a false sense of security. For any dedicated student, skipping class is no easy decision. In the most serious scenarios, It could mean the difference between passing and failing. Yet, if you\u2019re sick, it\u2019s almost always best to self-quarantine. That\u2019s the case now — amidst the COVID-19 outbreak — and always. \u201cI would say if you had the flu, do the same thing,\u201d Brown says. \u201cWe are much better off if we can try to keep people who are truly coughing and sneezing to stay away from others.\u201d Because most college students are young, they are typically associated with having good immune systems, which enable them to shed off disease and recover quickly. However, this stereotype doesn\u2019t apply to every student. And assuming it to be true puts the most susceptible students at risk. You may not realize it, but many people are immune-suppressed, Brown explains. \u201cAnd they could be people your own age too. You don\u2019t know if someone has a history of juvenile arthritis and they\u2019ve been on immune-supressent medications, or they\u2019ve had treatment for cancer. You may not be aware of that. Life is like this and people may not be obviously ill.\u201d Sometimes, though, skipping is easier said than done. \u201cWhile you might be able to make up a missed lecture or quiz, it probably won’t be so easy to miss an organic chemistry lab,\u201d Labus points out. In that regard, Labus recommends reading the course syllabus and reviewing any information your college or university has sent out about what to do if you\u2019re sick amidst the COVID-19 outbreak. Most every higher education institution has released some type of guidance, and each class attendance policy looks roughly the same. Guidance from Cornell<\/a> reads: \u201cIf you feel ill, you should use the same judgment you would normally use about attending class, staying home or seeking medical care. You should always notify your professors if you are unable to attend class for any reason.\u201d More often than not, professors tend to be forgiving and understanding about these sorts of things, particularly in times of widespread concern. As long as you\u2019re being truthful and acting with good intentions, chances are a few sick days won\u2019t tank your GPA. Self-quarantining can be a miserable process. There\u2019s no doubt that a lack of human interaction and fresh air can start to weigh on you. But if you feel sick, it\u2019s best not to leave your dorm room, apartment or house, unless you\u2019re going somewhere to seek medical care. \u201cIt’s all about reducing the chance that you spread your disease to others. If you are sick, stay home,\u201d Labus advises. \u201cIf you do have to be around people, keep a little distance from them and try not to have close contact with them. You might want to give your grandparents a hug if you haven’t seen them in a while, but you don’t want to infect them while you do.\u201d Because there is no widespread vaccine or antiviral treatment for COVID-19 yet, susceptible groups aren\u2019t being cared for fast enough, Brown adds. So, at this point, it’s best to avoid grandparents and other potentially susceptible groups altogether. According to Labus, the dining halls are roughly as safe as the library, classroom or any other place that people are in close contact with each other. \u201cCOVID-19 is not spread through food, so there is no more risk to eating at the dining hall than there would be eating anywhere else or studying near other students at the library,\u201d he explains. \u201cStudents should be doing this anyway, but washing their hands before eating is the best way to protect yourself from any number of diseases.\u201d That said, students who feel sick should try to refrain from eating at the dining hall, just like they should stay away from class or any other public space. For those who are ill, many colleges and universities have \u201csick-tray\u201d programs that allow students\u2019 friends or family members to pick up and deliver their meals directly from the dining hall. When faced with any widespread crisis, there are those who turn to \u201cdoomsday prepping,\u201d buying all of the food and water in their sight in case supplies start to run out. But amidst the COVID-19 outbreak, that\u2019s not necessary. \u201cThere is no reason to expect COVID-19 to cause the same damage to our infrastructure that we Americans would see after an earthquake, hurricane or tornado, so you shouldn\u2019t plan for it in the same way,\u201d Labus wrote in an article published in The Conversation<\/a>. \u201cWhile you don\u2019t want to run out of toilet paper, there is no reason to buy 50 packages.\u201d \u201cAs a general preparedness step, you should have a three-day supply of food and water in case of emergencies,\u201d he added. For some, however, affording three days of food and water at one time isn\u2019t always possible. And although many colleges and universities have on-campus markets where students can exchange their meal swipes for groceries, that\u2019s not always the case. In that regard, some institutions, including Trinity College in Texas, have started to closely monitor<\/a> their supplies, making sure there is enough food and cleaning products in case of emergency. And an increasing number of colleges and universities offer food pantries where hungry students can pick up nutritious food free of charge.
<\/p>\n\n\n\nHow can you avoid COVID-19 on campus? <\/strong>
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<\/p>\n\n\n\nIf you feel sick, go ahead and skip that class<\/strong>
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<\/p>\n\n\n\nIf you\u2019re sick, it\u2019s best to keep to yourself<\/strong>
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<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat about dining halls? Are they safe? <\/strong>
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<\/p>\n\n\n\nShould you stockpile food just in case? <\/strong>
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<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhen should you opt to get tested?<\/strong>
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