Oklahoma Christian University’s positive COVID-19 cases have been low since the beginning of classes on Aug. 5. Only 70 students have tested positive, and 117 have been in quarantine for close contact since the beginning of the fall semester.
On Sept. 22, Oklahoma Christian President John DeSteiguer emailed the student body explaining only two students had tested positive and were in quarantine on the given day.
While 89% of the student body reported their vaccination status, 55% said they are vaccinated. DeSteiguer said no faculty and staff cases were reported as of Sept. 22. Among faculty members, 92% reported their status, and 88% of those were vaccinated. Between the staff, 89% reported their vaccination status, and 77% were vaccinated.
DeSteiguer said the COVID-19 numbers during the fall semester have been outstanding.
“Honestly, my friends at other universities would love to have these kinds of good news stats,” DeSteiguer said. “So, please keep up the great work. Don’t forget – stay home if you’re sick. If you have any COVID-19 symptoms minimize being out and about until you can take a COVID-19 test.”
Students who are vaccinated do not need to quarantine when they have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive. Unvaccinated students, however, are required to quarantine for 10 days or until they test negative after the sixth day post-exposure.
DeSteiguer said he hopes to keep the number of positive tests as low as possible.
“I would love for our number of positive cases to be zero,” DeSteiguer said. “Please keep praying for an end to this pandemic and protection for our campus. Keep loving your neighbor.”
Oklahoma Christian’s website said while masks are optional, students are encouraged to get vaccinated. The COVID-19 Readiness Team set a goal to have 80% of the student body vaccinated. Unvaccinated athletes are required to test three times a week during the season and once a week during the off-season.
Chief Academic Officer, Jeff McCormack, said Oklahoma Christian’s success in dealing with COVID-19 cases is due to how the campus responded positively to their policies and procedures.
“High testing rate, compliance with policies and regular ongoing testing: those are the three things right there. That’s what made our campus successful,” McCormack said. “We have a really good situation on campus.”
Sophomore Jenna White tested positive for COVID-19 at the beginning of the fall 2021 semester. She said the Readiness Team handled the quarantine protocols well. However, White said there could be improvements.
“They [were] usually pretty good at responding quickly in the beginning,” White said. “I was not getting responses to my questions at the end of my quarantine.”
McCormack said there is room for improvement in the process of putting students into quarantine.
“We are always looking for ways to improve lines of communication,” McCormack said. “But we have a fantastic system on campus with our contact tracers.”
White said apart from those difficulties, Oklahoma Christian handled quarantine protocols well overall.
“I had a pretty decent experience in quarantine other than feeling sick,” White said. “The staff that brought food made sure to check on me every day and talk to me.”
Freshman Makayla Jordan said she was in quarantine because she was in close contact with someone who tested positive. Jordan said it was hard to keep up her schoolwork while in quarantine.
“They did pretty well in handling the protocols,” Jordan said. “It’s just stressful doing your schoolwork online when the rest of your class is in person. It was hard not being able to physically be there, especially when you are a visual learner and there are sometimes connection errors,” Jordan said. “[Blackboard] Collaborate doesn’t always work.”
McCormack said there are challenges in putting students into quarantine, but Oklahoma Christian’s numbers are impressive.
“I would put our campus against any campus,” McCormack said. “We just got a great student body here, the students here are fantastic and the faculty and staff are willing to work with us.”
Freedom Health Solutions offer testing on campus every weekday from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.
0
0
Be First to Comment