COVID variants require increased responsibility from our community
This is the Our View, prepared by the Editorial Board and the institutional voice of The Record.
Throughout the entire fall semester on our campuses, 60 positive COVID-19 cases were reported. On Monday, Jan. 17, 2021 alone, 29 positive COVID-19 cases were reported, according to the CSB/SJU COVID-19 dashboard.
On the date of publication, CSB/SJU currently possess a positivity rate of 18%, a rate 7.5 times higher than our campuses’ percentages in the last month alone.
We are not alone in being affected by Omicron.
Colleges throughout the state are reporting intense transmissibility rates, with the University of Minnesota currently possessing a rate of 25% for students testing positive on campus.
Specific to our campuses, work shortages and supply chain challenges caused by the pandemic have resulted in altered dining hall options and limited bus hours.
These facts require our community’s attention.
Our current reality is one in which the Omicron variant is both more pervasive, albeit less harmful, than previous variants. It is clear that the Omicron variant is more transmissible than previous COVID variants; however, it is also clear that vaccines are effective.
Both nationally and internationally, our world faces many questions with answers central to the lives of future generations. This said, on a local scale, there is no better use of our platform than spreading the following messages: get boosted.
Currently, the CSB/SJU communities possess two dose vaccine rates well above the recommended 70% herd immunity threshold. Moreover, about half of Bennies have received their booster shot and 37% of Johnnies have received their booster shot.
Describing the more transmissible, less hospitalization-causing Omicron variant can be nuanced and challenging. Conversely, describing Johnnie versus Bennie booster vaccination totals is simple: Johnnies need to step up.
The Record Editorial Board is actively impacted by the new variant, with an editor writing and helping in all ways possible from home. This perspective has reminded us of the previous state of the pandemic where we had no two dose or booster vaccine options to protect communities from the virus. As vaccine availability has progressed, choosing this reality is a violent public health choice.
Restoring our sense of community cannot be done alone. It requires our whole community.
If you are a young student, you will likely not be harshly impacted by Omicron. However, the risk of spread to our monastic community, professors and staff and older family members should provide additional reminders of who we need to protect and why we need to protect them.
We all bear a responsibility in ensuring the health and safety of all members of this community.Most importantly, if you feel sick or test positive, follow all of the necessary steps put in place by the school. Quarantine, notify any potential close contacts and email your professors. Use common sense, and if you’re uncertain, take the safe route and be cautious.
Pandemic realities can be existential and draining. However, if we seek a resilient perspective we can possess both tangible and achievable goals. Omicron spreads fast, but once we surpass this first wave, we must remain vigilant and responsible.
Bennies and Johnnies, let’s make the start of the spring semester as strong as the fall.
Let’s start 2022 as one boosted community.