As the 2021 Spring semester came to a close, with the CDC’s announcement that vaccinated people were now free to be unmasked in public, the pandemic seemed to also be coming to a close. Covenant College had managed to last the whole 2020-2021 school year with only 14 student cases.
When Covenant started school in August of 2020, the 7 day average for Hamilton County was 90 cases, which doubled to a 7 day average of 180 cases by the end of the semester (November 13). Yet, throughout the fall semester, Covenant only had 5 student cases since the start of the semester (there were about 13 cases that carried over from the summer).
These low numbers continued in the spring semester with only 9 student cases, and with the increase of vaccinations and a 7 day average of 38 cases in Hamilton county, things were looking positive. Covenant had announced its plan to essentially return to normal in the next school year.
Photos in this article belong to Nate Stewart
As the Summer went on, with roughly 75% of Juniors and Seniors and approximately 52% of all Freshmen and Sophomores fully vaccinated, everything began to look good for the new school year to begin basically back to normal.
However, with the spread of the more contagious Delta variant of the Coronavirus, cases began to quickly rise around the country.
This rise in cases led to Covenant adding masking rules. Once classes began and cases on campus started to rise, and with Covenant’s subsequent increase in restrictions, “everyone, old and new students, are in constant fear. Is the school going to close?” freshman Hannah Lee said.
Most Covenant students do not want to be moved to classes online, especially the Sophomores and Freshmen who had the end of their highschool experiences online.
Back in May 2020, when Covenant shut down and moved completely to online classes, there was only one active case in Hamilton County. With the rising number of cases and with Covenant’s willingness to add on more restrictions as it sees need, being sent home seems to be a common fear.
Thankfully this fear seems to only be a fear, not a reality.
“I do not anticipate a shutdown. If we were to see transmission occurring in the classroom or a significant number of faculty impacted, then we would consider a short-term move to remote learning” Brad Voyles, dean of students, said.
The Covenant community as a whole wishes to stay in person and on campus.
At this moment, Covenant does not have a specific number of cases that would cause them to take that step. Voyles said that Covenant is more focused on all of the data as a whole, rather than on a specific number. If Covenant did end up moving online for a 10 to 14 day period due to covid cases, according to Voyles, while students would be encouraged to return home, they would not officially send everyone home.
There is also some confusion and uncertainty about some of the quarantining and close contact restrictions. Both Lee and Sunny Guo ‘22 expressed concerns over the way that a close contact is identified.
“I would appreciate some consistency in the handling of Covid from Covenant” Guo said, and there is “not a lot of emphasis upon what close contact/quarantine procedures are,” Lee said.
Both were alluding to situations where it seemed to them as if there were people who interacted with an individual who came down with Covid, and yet these people were never identified as close contacts.
“Our protocols regarding quarantine, isolation, and close contacts are based (as they have been since last year) on the guidance we receive from the Georgia Department of Public Health” Voyles said. Covenant has not created its own rules, but rather relies upon health authorities.
As for what this means practically, Viona Brown ‘22, a student worker at Priesthill, outlines that close contact tracing starts from once an individual tests positive. The individual then gives Priesthill and Student Development the names and contact information of everyone who has been within 6 ft of them for over 15 minutes within a 48 hour period since symptoms began.
This semester continues to be a time of uncertainty and fear. The rise of the Delta strain caused disappointment as things began to shut down once again. However, a lot of work is being done to keep campus safe.
“Students should know that there are a lot of people in health services, student development, residence life, food service, facilities services, athletic training, safety and security, as well as all your faculty who are working very hard and doing extra to make this possible” Voyles said.
And just as Covenant employees are working hard to allow us to be in person this year, students can also work hard by staying as safe as possible.
“Get vaccinated. If you don’t want to get vaccinated please practice safe habits” Brown said. “Wash your hands, stay six feet apart, isolate or go into quarantine if you are a close contact”.