Students of the University of La Verne need access to more information regarding COVID-19. As of this semester, students know that there is a vaccination mandate or a required form to fill out for an exemption. But beyond those requirements, students are lacking what measures to take if they get sick on campus.
The ULV website offers information on the virus itself on the COVID-19 reporting dashboard. Additionally, the website states that all students and employees must conduct a symptom self-check before coming to campus. It states what ULV residents should be checking for, and that students may not come to campus when they are sick or expressing symptoms.
But the website fails to provide any information on the next steps students should take if they find themselves displaying symptoms or any information on previous cases that occurred on campus. If a student is sick, that would mean they contracted the virus from someone around them at home, at their workplace, or at the school. If the latter is true, then how would they know who they contracted the virus from? How can they be sure they did not pass on the virus to others? What measures would be taken to ensure a student would not fall behind in their school work? These are the questions that remain unanswered.
Cal Poly Pomona offers a case report on its website. It would be helpful if ULV did the same so students, staff and faculty could feel safer. CPP also requires weekly testing for those who are unvaccinated on campus.
Mt. San Antonio College also requires that unvaccinated students take a weekly test.
With potentially 10 percent of the ULV population remaining unvaccinated, this would be a helpful precaution to ensure the safety of others while also ensuring that on-campus learning can continue.
The Mt. SAC website provides a link on their website for student resources, where students can easily access vaccine and testing requirements for the fall semester, student health checks and how to report a COVID-19 sickness. The student health checks provide a listing of specific symptoms that students should watch out for and who they should contact if they get sick. Students who need to report a sickness are advised to fill out a form or contact the Student Health Center, while employees are advised to report to Human Resources.
Whittier College’s website provides information on the required daily health screening for those attending campus and detailed prevention measures.
Since the virus is not going away any time soon, ULV must take the necessary steps towards keeping its students and staff safe. That means joining these other local schools in giving students and employees access to a greater range of information. While background on the virus is helpful, it is more important that residents have access to prevention measures, what specific symptoms to check for, and resources to report to if a case should occur.
Unsigned editorials represent the opinion of the Campus Times Editorial Board.