MORGANTOWN — WVU is on the verge of reopening for the fall. Thousands of students will soon pour into Morgantown, Move-in begins Saturday and classes resume Aug. 26.
With that in mind, The Dominion Post spoke with Clay Marsh, state COVID-19 Czar and WVU vice president and executive dean for Health Sciences, and Rob Alsop, WVU vice president for strategic initiatives, on a variety of topics associated with reopening during a pandemic.
Marsh addressed the public health aspects, Alsop the policy aspects.
Timing
We asked if they can be sure it’s the right thing to do and if they’re ready.
On the first part Marsh said no. “This is such a rapidly progressing thing. There are so many downsides in having a gap in education. At the same time this is an unprecedented pandemic.”
Everyone is trying their best, he said. “Everybody’s done an extraordinary job to prepare the campus and make things safe. This virus in not something we can control necessarily, but we are learning constantly about it and I think that we will just do the best we can and be ready to pivot and adjust as we need to. … It’s going to be a roller coast ride. … No one can be ready but it’s not one-and-done. They have to navigate and make decisions as needed.
Alsop said WVU has number of protections and protocols in place, such as testing, masks, moving courses online, reducing classroom sizes. The recreation center and PRT are closed.
“We think we’ve taken a number of measures that will help us mitigate and work through how we’re moving forward this fall. … We know there are no elegant solutions.”
They have to be nimble regarding the circumstances as they unfold, he said. But he thinks they’ve done a reasonable job of balancing the benefits and risks in the uncertainly of the pandemic.
Acceptable risk
With so many students here, it’s inevitable some will get sick, The Dominion Post said to them; a few may die. How do they judge the acceptable level of risk?
Marsh said that at this time 20% of all COVID cases in the state are in the 18-29 age group. In Monongalia County, the figure was 75%. In Florida, a snowbird state, the average age has dropped from 65 to 35.
There had been a narrative, he said that COVID is a disease of the older and sicker. “But we’re starting to understand that’s not really true at all.”
So it’s important to help this demographic group realize it’s serious and do the necessary navigation and mitigation. Cautioning that he’s broadly generalizing, he said, “The risks that they’re taking and the nonchalance that they have approached the disease with as a generation worry you that really they’re going to have some long-term consequences of this.”
Alsop said WVU has been working closely with health care professionals to understand and mitigate the risk. “We don’t want anybody to get sick; we don’t want anybody to get really sick; and we don’t want anybody to die on our campus.”
He spoke again of the protocols they’ve put in place. “There will be positive COVID cases, that will be our reality.”
But the pandemic has also sparked other crises in other crises mental health, depression and more form not being together and shutting the economy down. “There are health impacts to be mitigated on both sides of the equation. … It’s a matter of trying to thread the needle in an ever-changing landscape.”
Health vs economy
The pandemic is often spoken of in terms of weighing public health against keeping individuals and the whole economy financially afloat.
Marsh said it’ not really an either-or question, but rather an “and” question.
The mass suppression undertaken at the beginning to stem the pandemic is not the right move now. “Today we have tools to allow us to become more precise about how we mitigate.” For instance, following the Mon outbreak, the governor closed the bars and the numbers reversed.
“If we don’t get COVID under control the economy’s going to have huge trouble coming back again.”
So the approach should be “and”: open up but address the virus locally as needed. “Helpingg people stay healthy will also help the economy.”
Alsop said, “We know there are going to be risks no matter what in a pandemic, but if we can reduce it, given the benefits of a reduced campus presence and educational opportunities,” those are the factors they’ve weighed.
WVU has taken such financial measures for the students as pro-rated rebates for dining and housing and credits for student fees. “It’s really weighing the long-term health and educational impacts that we’ve been focused on
Housing
Congregate settings are ripe to spread the virus and WVU students live in a variety of congregate settings: dorms, off-campus houses and apartments, frat and sorority houses.
Marsh said, “We’re going to have to do a much better job of keeping track of all of our students and housing.” There are no easy answers.
WVU hopes to have an education pathway to teach students to mitigate risks more effectively, along with a testing pathway, a contact tracing pathway, and cooperation with the health department and local leadership.
“As long as the bars are shut we don’t want a house party with 100 people,” he said. If people are congregating, they need ways to manage that. It’s not only an issue of how many people are in a dorm or apartment. It’s also convincing them when they’re off site that they need to know how to protect themselves.
“The more I’m learning about it the more respectful I’m getting of it,” he said. This phase of the pandemic is far more complicated than the first phase. “We need to be nimble and agile and capable.”
Regarding dorms, Alsop said some rooms do hold two students and they have additional cleaning protocols and instructions in place. And Arnold Apartments have been set aside as a quarantine building.
For students off campus, he said, part of how much success they have will spend on students doing what they ask. Some will push the limits or not follow protocols. But there’s been a positive response to masks and testing.
And the community has taken steps to reduce spread, he said And if circumstances require additional measures, they’ll take them.
For the frats, Alsop said Dean of Students Corey Farris and Matthew Richardson, director of the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life, have been talking with them. “If we want to have this college experience we all have to work together.”
Bars and clubs
Young adults congregating at Morgantown bars and clubs without adequate protection sparked the bar closure that remains in place.
Regarding that, Marsh said knowledge of the virus is evolving and we will see the long term effects are going to become more prevalent. That means we’ll have to further adjust our mitigation strategies and be more cognizant of what we’re doing, to nut just protect people from dying but from the long term consequences.
Alsop said, “We don’t want anybody to be hurt economically but we also know that living through this pandemic means some sacrifices.” WVU cut its budget by $35 million.
And it’s known that overcrowded indoor places are ripe for community spread. WVU hopes that the bars will remain closed at least through move-in or, alternatively if the governor feels it necessary to reopen them, that occupancy levels will be held low.
Football
Football weekends nearly double the size of the city and help local buisnesses thrive, and that is weighing heavily on all.
Marsh said watch the pros To date, no pro sports have had fans on the field. That means it will be hard for colleges to do it.
Regarding the games, “If you’re in a bubble, you;re able to control it more.” The NBA has has stayed in Orlando and been able to control it. Baseball has been on the road and some teams have had to call off games.
Marsh sees a range of scenarios. One, there will be intermittent problems where teams fall out because of COVID and some games are called off. Worst case, it all shuts down.
Alsop said WVU Athletics will be announcing its decisions. But they have in place protocols on
testing and quarantining and limited how athletes work out. They’re watching the pros and learning as they go.
“We are cognizant that we want to avoid large events that will risk significant community spread.” Schools across the country are working through the same questions.
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