Delta’s students and staff have made their return to campus for the Spring 2022 semester. Students are once again offered the choice of taking classes online, in-person, or have the best of both worlds and participate in hybrid classes. For those who made the choice to come back to campus for learning, a new threat has also joined the class.
Omicron, a new and easily spreadable Covid-19 variant, made its come-up over winter break.
Delta College is aware the spread of this variant is at a peak and has taken protocols this semester to help prevent the spread among students and staff on campus.
“If you compare the start of Spring Semester with the start of Fall Semester, I think it’s safe to say that we’re putting a number of new measures in place to keep everyone as safe as possible,” said Alex Breitler, the Director of Marketing, Communications and Outreach at Delta.
All students and staff that plan to return to campus this semester were required to have submitted proof of vaccination or apply for an exemption, whether medical or religious. The mandate was passed by the Board of Trustees in the Fall, but wasn’t applicable until Spring.
“For the staff we’re at 86 percent that are compliant with the mandate and for the students we’re at 69 percent of them being vaccinated,” said Alese Campbell, Delta College’s Director of Covid-19 response during the Feb. 1 meeting of the Board of Trustees.
Alongside the mandate, students are also required to request contact-tracing badges. The program began last semester, but original badges were recalled due to a manufacturing defect that shortened the battery life.
The contact tracing badges allows students to get notified when anyone they have been around on campus for more than 15 minutes tested positive for the virus. It is important, though, that it stays on your person, for that is the only accurate way you will get notified of an exposure.
“The contact tracing badges that are being distributed right now to in-person and hybrid students allow them to be notified within minutes when someone they have been in close contact with tests positive,” said Breitler. “This is much faster than the old method of manual contact tracing.”
Gone, too, are the paper and digital screeners students filled out upon entering classroom spaces.
Delta also has provided a couple testing sites available on campus. PCR Covid-19 testing, along with rapid testing, is available for free in the Shima parking lot for the entire community. Students and staff can test in the Locke Lounge on campus Monday through Friday.
“We also have our own Covid-19 test center on campus now, at the Locke Lounge, which is a great asset when you consider how long the lines have been at other public testing centers in our community,” said Breitler.
With all of these protocols being put into action, students said they feel less of a risk of contracting Covid from being back on campus.
“They take into consideration how we can’t have a really full classroom so seats are limited and stuff… also the Guardian app and our badges, those are all very effective. I’d say for sure that the protocols are pretty good,” said Aritze Eguiluz, first-year student.
Staying home when sick is one of the most important things to do and should be common sense at this point of the pandemic.
For students that are unsure on whether to come to class or not, advice from a medical professional is now offered. Students can call an advice nurse hotline at (209) 888-0480 to get a professional’s advice on whether it is safe for them to attend class if they are exposed to someone with Covid-19 or have any symptoms themselves.
Among these new protocols, Delta has also added a new feature to the official website that shows all the updated potential exposures on campus. This chart lists the dates, times, and areas of exposure on campus so that students are able to see if they were in those same areas at the time and date of exposure.
“The bottom line is that we are trying to create as safe an environment as possible for students to learn on campus,” said Breitler. “Hopefully students coming back for Spring Semester do feel a little safer and a little more comfortable knowing that there’s been quite a bit of effort put into addressing these issues.”
On Feb.15, the California Health & Human Services Agency announced that the mask mandate will once again be lifted for all vaccinated people in public indoor spaces. The mask mandate remains in effect in several situations however, including in K-12 schools and health care facilities. The K-12 mandate will be re-evaluated on Feb. 28, according to the agency.