COVID cases rise in Lawrence, KU has no plan for students
Jonah Kahn | @jonah_kahn
COVID-19 is rising across the University of Kansas campus.
Watkins Health Center doctors said this is the busiest start to the school year it has seen compared to the past five years.
Behind that increase is students gathering in many places, like classrooms, the Ambler Recreation Center, residences and bars.
All of these places leave little space for social distancing and do not help the spread of the virus.
In June 2022, KU ended the structure used during the height of the pandemic. In the post-COVID era, the university felt it no longer needed this plan in place. This means students who have COVID do not need to skip class.
Students can also miss class as long as they have a doctor’s note, but missing class for COVID is being treated the same as if they were to miss class for other illnesses.
The full details relating to the university’s COVID protocol can be found on the KU Protect Page.
Some students choose to miss class based on how they feel and to keep others safe.
“No, I didn’t [go to class],” Anderson Doyle, KU freshman, said. “I missed a class for like the first couple of days. Then, I started feeling better and just looked at the KU guidelines and wore a mask till I felt all better.”
When it came to food, Doyle said that he would use food services like DoorDash and Grubhub to get food delivered to his dorm, which was partially to avoid infecting others at campus dining halls.
Junior Jenna Ginden said it was hard for her to obtain a doctor’s note to be excused from classes.
“It was really hard to catch up on school work, and I missed going out with my friends,” Ginden said.
Ginden said she heard that others were still attending classes or going out to bars, knowing they had COVID. However, KUJH has not confirmed this.
The Lawrence, Kansas River Wastewater Treatment Facility and the Lawrence Douglas County Public Health continue to monitor the levels of COVID in wastewater, and wastewater levels show COVID is decreasing slowly.
KU recommends following the CDC guidelines for the latest, most up-to-date information. link to CDC
The virus can easily be mistaken for another illness, like the flu or a common cold. Experts say the best way to know what you have is by testing. It is also important to get vaccines and booster shots. Many campus buildings have masks and hand sanitizer readily available for those who wish to use them.
